Class V"Li~^L4
O U TLI N ES
OF THE
POLITICAL HISTORY
OF
MICHIGAN.
JAMES V. CAMPBELL
DETROIT :
SCHOBER & CO
1876.
i
f-'V:
Copyright, 187b,
By JAMES V. CAMPBELL
SCHOBEK & Co.
PRINTERS AND BINDERS,
7 Fort St. W.
PREFACE.
This work was originally intended as a sketch to
be used for the purposes of the Centennial Committee
of Michigan, and was prepared in more haste than was
otherwise desirable. The time allowed for it was not
sufficient to permit any very extended researches among
original materials. Although, for some twenty years
past, the writer has made occasional collections of such
material, yet his work must be regarded as largely
compiled from his predecessors, who have been so fre-
quently relied on that this general acknowledgment is
more appropriate than would be any attempt to credit
them in particular places. He has drawn freely from
the Lanmans, and Mrs. Sheldon, from the " Historical
Sketches of Michigan," and from the local sketches of
Judge Witherell and Mr R. E. Roberts, as well as
from Parkman and the French authors — especially
Charlevoix, La Hontan, Hennepin, Tonty and Joutel, —
correcting them, so far as he could, by the French
documents. In matters concerning the War of 1812,
Mr. Lossing's *' Field-Book" has been of much service
Upon that war there is no lack of authentic documents
and histories.
Much, also, which has not been recorded by the
historians, has been found scattered through early and
modern biographies, books of travel, and other less pre-
tentious works, as well as in newspapers and private
IV PREFACE.
writings ; and many interesting facts appear incidentally
in public documents and land books and other local
records. The early recording officers placed on record
a great many private papers which were not muniments
of title, but related to family matters.
A long residence in Detroit has given some oppor-
tunities for procuring information from living sources, and
for observing things which were not without value for
reference. It has also enabled the writer to understand
and explain some things which could hardly be com-
prehended from writings alone. Many gentlemen have
busied themselves with gathering and preserving his-
torical material, and have accumulated much that, with
sufficient time and labor, will be some day made a very
valuable addition to the annals of Michigan and the
Northwest. Besides the numerous documents preserved
by the Historical Society, and the narratives and
sketches gathered by the Pioneer Society, it is not im-
proper to mention Hon. C. C. Trowbridge, Hon. Charles
I. Walker, Robert E. Roberts, Esq., Bela Hubbard, Esq.,
and Hon. Levi Bishop, as active workers in this field.
It is to be hoped that the results of Judge Walker's
diligent researches will be given to the public in a
durable form. To all these gentlemen, as well as to
Hon. E. A. Brush, and many other personal friends,
who have aided him by information and suggesti(^ns,
the writer records his acknowledgments.
He trusts that his imperfect sketch will not be
without some value, as a contribution upon a subject
which, as yet, has been very far from receiving ex-
haustive treatment from any one.
Detroit, May i, 1876.
CONTENTS.
CHAPl^ER I.
Page
Preliminary. No popular government until Councils of 1824 and
1827. Chief growth has been since that time. Eventful close
of the first half century of the United States. INIichigan of
French origin, and with institutions unlike those of English
colonies. Part of New France and Canada. French writers
and explorers. La Salle, Hennepin, Tonty, Ea Hontan, Char-
levoix. Full records in the Department of the Marine.
French regime despotic and peculiar. Attention of govern-
ment extended to private affairs. Intrigues in Church and
State. Publication of old records by New York. Collections
in Canada and elsewhere i
CHAPTER II.
Early explorations. Michigan was a part of New France. Settle-
ments delayed by its Canadian connection, in the interests of
fur trade and of missions. Date of discovery unknown. An-
cient resort for beavers and furs. Hurons or Ouendats. Le
Detroit, or the Strait, known very early. Champlain and the
RecoUet Missions. Michigan not held by the Iroquois. Mis-
sions in the Upper Peninsula. Raymbault, Jogues, Mesnard.
Mission of St. Ignace and Mackinaw. Pere Marquette. Cou-
reurs de bois and fur,] trade. Character of contraband adven-
turers. Bushrangers the first explorers and soldiers. Jesuit
missionaries opposed to settle-nents 8
CHAPTER III.
Preparation for Western occupation. Territorial ambition of Eouis
XIV. Supposed route to China and the Indies. Contest be-
tween friends and enemies of exploration. Expeditions sent
out by Talon towards South Sea. St. Lusson at the Sault dc
Ste. Marie. Success of French in dealing with Indians La-
Salle's first expedition not completed. Joliet, Dollier and
Galinee. Dollier and Galinee destroy an idol at Detroit.
Trade monopoly and contraband. Coureurs de bois restrained
VI CONTENTS.
Page
by law. Eminence of their leaders. The regiment of Carig-
nan Salieres. English encroachments. Hudson's Bay Com-
pany. New York ceded to the English, Colbert offers re-
wards for discovery. The Religious Orders and their influence.
Grandfontaine sends out Joliet. Voyage to Akansas country.
La Salle ennobled, and authorized to explore. Tonty. Pre-
parations for journey. The Griffin. Skilled mechanics. Ri-
bourde, Membre, Hennepin, Missionaries. Launch and voyage
of the Griffin. Reaches the Detroit August loth, 1679 20
CHAPTERIV.
Early settlements in Michigan. La Salle sends men to Michigan
to wait for him. Teuchsa Grondie and the early settle-
ments on the Strait. Karontaen, whether the same as
Carontouan. Many forms of the same names. Champlain's
knowledge of the Strait. Griffin at the Detroit. At Lake Ste.
Claire on St. Claire's Day. Lake Ste. Claire known as Otsi-
keta, Chaudiere, Kandekio and Ganatchio. La Salle reaches
Mackinaw and goes southwest. At St. Joseph. Strife with
Iroquois and English for the fur trade. Eminent adventurers.
Ou Luth, De la Foret, Durantaye, Lusigny. Duchesneau
complains of Frontenac and Du Luth as favoring contraband
trade. Amnesty to coureurs de bois. Colonial intrigues. Du-
Luth goes to France. Importance of Lake Erie. Correspon-
dence between De la Barre and Governor Dongan. Denonville
sends Du Luth to build Fort St. Joseph, at the outlet of Lake
Huron. McGregory and Roseboom expeditions and capture.
Tonty, La Foret, Durantaye, Du Luth and Beauvais de Tilly
go east with the prisoners, to join the Seneca campaign. La-
Hontan sent to Fort St. Joseph. Lafontaine Marion, guide to
McGregory, shot. Grisolon de la Tourette, brother to Daniel
Grisolon Du Luth. Iroquois claim againsc French control of
the Detroit. Mackinaw an important point. Hurons and
Ottawas. Industry of the Hurons. Fort St. Joseph abandoned.
La Motte Cadillac. New York covets the western trade.
Coureurs de bois or bushlopers valuable to the Colonies.
Cadillac proposes a fort at Detroit. Livingston recognizes
importance of getting Detroit or Wawyachtenok. Cadillac goes
to France to lay his plans before the King. Authorized to
fovmd Detroit. Fort Pontchartrain 36
CHAPTER V.
Detroit under Cadillac. Iroquois complain of French occupancy.
Convey their claims to William III. Lake Erie and its vari-
ous names. Iroquois not claimants of Michigan. Importance
CONTENTS. Vll
Page
of water-ways. Description of the Strait and its islands. Why
the post was not placed on Grosse He. Bois-blanc Island.
Fortifications at Detroit. Cattle and horses. Buildings.
D'Aigremont's report. Indians settle at Detroit. Trouble
with Jesuits. Cadillac and his measures. Restraint of liquor
traffic. Monopoly of Canada Company. Danger from English
intrigues. Intrigues against Cadillac. Ordered to Quebec for
trial. Vindicated by Count Pontchartrain. Aigremont's spite.
Conges or licenses. Delays in settlement. Census, Cadil-
lac's seigneurie. Plans for improving Indians and enlarging
settlement. Feudal grants of land. Wheat introduced. Mills.
Enlightened views. Cadillac Governor of Louisiana 55
CHAPTERVI.
French rule. Detroit the only civil settlement. Subject to English
schemes. French system opposed to freedom of action. French
.settlers brave and enterprising. No courts of justice. Public
notaries and their functions. Disposal of Cadillac's interests.
Madame Gregoire, his grand - daughter. La Foret succeeds
Cadillac. Du Buisson commands during his absence. Detroit
besieged by Mascoutins and Outagamies. Succored by Pota-
watamies, Hurons, Illinois, Missouris and Usages. Fort re-
lieved, and great slaughter of besiegers. Tonty the younger.
La Floret's views concerning the post. Description of Indians.
Superiority of Hurons. Visit of Charlevoix. Domestic animals
and crops. Prerogatives of the commander. Lands controlled
by Governor and Intendant. Trade monopoly under younger
Tonty. Licenses to privileged traders. Popular remonstrances
and Tonty's annoyance. Improvement under Beauharnois as
Governor, and Hocquart as Intendant. Beauharnois favors
settlements and makes concessions of land. Boishebert, Com-
mandant, sanctions a water-mill. Moulin banal. Detroit gov-
ernment grants held in roture and not by feudal tenure.
Hugues Pean and Bigot. Few grants perfected by patent as
required. Cadillac and Repentigny the only grantees of seig-
neuries. Trading licenses granted freely. Commanders at De-
troit, Pajot, Deschaillons de St. Ours, Desnoyelles, Noyan,
Sabrevois, Celoron, Longueuil, De Muy, Bellestre. Indian set-
tlements in Michigan. L'Arbre Croche. Liberal views of
Maurepas, Beauharnois, La Jonquiere and De la Galissonniere.
The Phelyppeaux family, and places named in their honor.
He Phelyppeaux in Lake Superior a national boundary. Its
disappearance. Navarre Deputy Intendant at Detroit. Notary
and tabellion. Tenure of lands within the Fort. Conditions
to keep up pickets. British and Iroquois intrigues with the
Hurons at Detroit. Huron mission village at Bois-blanc. Iro-
Vlll C C) N T E N T S .
Page
quois on White River! Trade suffers. Celoron and Joncaire
on the Ohio. Indian rising and massacre planned at Detroit.
Chiefs sent to Quebec. Attack on sett'ement at Grosse He.
Capture of ring leaders. One killed, and one commits suicide.
Richardie and Potier, Huron missionaries. Huron Mission
removed from Bois-blanc to Sandwich. Resistance to English
advance on Ohio. Galissonniere urges sending out settlers.
Fauxsaulniers or salt smugglers to be sent out. Colonial in-
dustries favored by French, but opposed by English. Settlers
sent out from France to Detroit. Scarcity. Detroit enlarged.
Repentigny settles at Sault de Ste. Marie. War with England.
Detroit sends trooi:)S and supplies. Piquote de Pellestre active.
Acadian refugees. Bellestre the last French commandant.
Detroit included in Montreal capitulation. Surrendered to
Robert Rogers. Account of Bellestre 77
C: H A P T E R VII.
Michigan under British military rule. Few interests for law to oper-
ate on. Detroit, Mackinaw and Sault de Ste. Marie the only
settlements. Fort Mackinaw then in Eower Peninsula. Pop-
ulation of Detroit. Slaves. Panis. Buffaloes. General Gage
and Sir William lohnson. Chabert de Joncaire. Robert
Rogers. Royal American Regiment. Pontiac meets the British
near the ("uyahoga. Arrogant conduct of British officers to-
wards Indians. Capiain Donald Campbell first commandant at
Detroit. Albany traders Trade regulations. Pontiac begins
scheming. Effect of Treaty of Paris. French popular with
Indians. Events at Mackinaw. Post captured by stratagem
of ball-play. Conduct of various Indian tribes. Etherington.
Gorrell. Henry. Tolerance of Indian barbarities. Detroit
during the Pontiac war. Siege, (xladwin, Campbell, McDoug-
all, Rogers, Dalzell. Massacre of Fisher at Hog Island.
Cuillerier. Intervention of Chapoton, Godfrey and La Butte.
Murder of Major Donald Campbell and escape of McDougall.
Battle of Bloody Run. Siege raised. Bradstreet's Treaty.
Tricks and mistakes of interpreters. Need of civil government.
Royal proclamation continued martial law. British suspicions
against loyalty of French. Popularity of Scottish officers.
British authorities opposed to civil settlements. Fur trade.
Indian grants. Temporary courts established by the command-
ant. Dejean and Ee Grand justices. Irregularities at Mack-
inaw. Misconduct of Robert Rogers. Alexander Henry on
Lake Superior. Mining and copper discoveries. Condition of
Detroit settlements. Potawatamie grants. Royal officers at
Detroit. No newspapers in Province. ( )uebec Act passed . . in
CONTENTS. IX
CHAPTER VIII.
Page
Michigan under British law. Purpose and operation of the Quebec
Act. Opposed by liberals. Petitions for its repeal disregarded.
Zachary Macaulay. Western posts continued under martial
law. Lieutenant governors appointed. Henry Hamilton at
Detroit. No regular courts till 1788. Lay judges. Justice
Reaume. Uejean's multifarious duties. Continued in his
limited magistracy. Liquor selling regulated by agreement
among merchants. American Revolution did not reach Mich-
igan. Garret Graverat charged with disloyalty. Execution of
prisoners sentenced capitally by Dejean without authority.
Captain Lernoult in command. Relations of Uejean with
Lieutenant Governor Hamilton. Further unlawful Indian grants.
Loyalty of French at Detroit. Difference between French and
English colonists. Destruction of American settlements. Pol-
icy of preventing civilization. Events in Indiana and Illinois.
Hamilton's expeditions. DePeyster at Mackinaw and his aux-
iliary attempts. Forays from Detroit. George Rogers Clark
captures Vincennes. Hamilton, Hay, Dejean and others de-
tained prisoners. Their treatment in Virginia. DePeyster
commanding at Detroit. Acts as chaplain in marriages and
other duties. His character. Bird's expedition to Kentucky.
Moravians in Michigan. Zeisberger and others settle on Huron
(Clinton) River of Lake St. Clair. New Gnadenhutten. John
Hay lieutenant governor. First road in Michigan built to
Moravian settlement. Fort Mackinaw moved to Island of
Michilimackinac. Detroit and other posts retained by Great
Britain, in violation of treaty of peace. Records removed to
(Quebec. Indian hostilities encouraged against the United
States. Brant. Canada divided. Upper Canada made a com-
mon law province. Simcoe lieutenant governor. Grants to
American Tory refugees. British build fort at Mauniee Rapids.
Wayne's campaign and victories. Treaty of (ireenville. Jay's
treaty provides for surrender of posts to the United States.
Fraudulent Indian grants in anticipation of surrender. Posses-
sion taken of Detroit 153
CHAPTER T X .
Michigan under the Northwest Territory and Indiana. Territory cov-
eted by the British. Plan to obtain it by purchase. Disloyalty
at Green Bay and Sault de Ste. Marie. Election of many
citizens to iretain allegiance to Great Britain. Jonathan Schieff-
lin. Pleasant social lelations. Slaves. Rights preserved by
Jav's Treatv. Wayne County organized. Militia Courts.
X CONTENTS.
Page
Ordinance of 1787. Courts at Detroit yearly. Jacob Burnet.
John Cleves Symmes. Arthur St. Clair, Jr. Bluejacket.
Buckongahelas. Honors to the Governor's son. Indians in-
jured by contact with American settlers. Flourishing business
at Detroit. Style of living. French noblesse. Marietta col-
onists. Solomon Sibley. Lewis Cass in Ohio. Amusements.
Elections for General Assembly. Character of legislation.
Schools. Division of Territory. Seat of government removed
to Chillicothe. Detroit incorporated. Chillicothe riots. Schieff-
lin's courage. Ohio Constitutional Convention. Wayne County
not represented. Michigan attached to Indiana. Detroit des-
cribed. Domestic life. Dispute concerning national boundary.
Boisblanc Island and Maiden. Government trading posts.
Commission to settle land titles. Michigan set off as a
Territory 198
CHAPTER X.
Governor Hull's civil administration. Political contests of that period.
No new settlements in Michigan away from the border. Pop-
ulation. Importation of Territorial officers. Evils of their
local ignorance. Governor, Secretary and Judges. Burning of
Detroit. New town planned. Legislation of Governor and
Judges. Court districts. Lotteries for public purposes. Wood-
ward's plan of Detroit. Militia. Land titles. Discords among
the Governor and Judges. Bank of Detroit incorporated, and
annulled by Congress. Kidnapping British deserteis. Slaves.
Indian treaty concessions of land. Delays in public surveys.
Indian alarms. Detroit stockaded. Negro soldiers. Quarrels
of Hull and Woodward. Social affairs. Schools. First print-
ing press. " Michigan Essay." Father Gabriel Richard. In-
dian troubles. Tecumseh and the Prophet. British intrigues.
Maiden agency. Elliott and McKee. Henry's mission to New
England. Indians defeated at Tippecanoe. Governor Hull
goes to Washington. Evils of having no newspapers. Sweep-
ing repeal of all old laws, British, French and Territorial. No
local self government. Currency. Taxation. Imperfect legal
system. Burr's conspiracy and neutrality laws 232
CHAPTER XI.
Governor Hull's military administration. Early omissions and mis-
takes of the Government. Hull's antecedents. His opinions
on military policy. Rated by his Revolutionary services under
different circumstances. War measures adopted. Troops levied.
Call on Ohio for soldiers. Hull in command of Ohio troops
and regulars. March towards Detroit. Baggage and invalids
CONTENTS. XI
Page
sent l)y vessel and captured. Hull receives notice of war on
the way from Maumee to Detroit. British received earlier
notice. Reaches Detroit. Delays crossing till advices from
Washington. Enters Canada and issues proclamation. Expe-
ditions of Cass and McArthur. Delays offensive measures.
Mackinaw captured. Traders in British interest. Proctor at
Maiden. Battles of Monguagon and Brownstown. Hull retires
from Canada. Chicago massacre. Brock at Maiden. Batteries
built at Sandwich without interference from Hull. Discontent.
Cass and McArthur sent towards River Raisin. British open fire
from Canada. Cross Detroit River without resistance. Hull sur-
renders. Dishonorable terms of capitulation. Captain Brush
refuses to be included. Sustained by court martial. Court
called to try Hull. Dissolved because he has not been exchanged.
New court called on his exchange. Conviction and sentence
that he be shot. Sentence remitted. Hull's defence and sub-
sequent effort at vindication. Discussion of the subject 266
CHAPTER XII.
British possession and American reconquest of Michigan. Cass re-
ports at Washington upon the facts of Hull's military trans-
actions. Brock's proclamation. Discussion upon true contents
of articles of surrender. Proctor in command. Organizes tem-
porary government. Depredations and spoliations. Attempt to
turn citizens to disloyalty. Indian threats. Excitement in the
West. Capture of Revolutionary trophies at Detroit. Brock
knighted. Capture of the Detroit and Caledonia, armed vessels,
by Elliott, near Buffalo. Harrison's forces gathering in Ohio.
Maiden to be assailed. Winchester's defeat on the Raisin.
Proctor's treachery. Massacre of the wounded. Fate of Wool-
folk. Hart, Graves and others. Dr. McKeehan's adventures.
Ransom of prisoners, and Proctor's prohibition of further ran-
som. Woodward's spirited conduct. Cruelty to prisoners.
Banishment of Americans from Detroit. Kentucky volunteers.
Ohio campaign. Fort Meigs besieged. Capture of relieving
force, and Indian barbarities. Tecumseh more merciful than
Proctor. Siege raised. Failure of plan for second attack. As-
sault on Fort Stephenson, and brave defence by Major Croghan.
Retreat of British and Indians. Governor Shelby raises volun-
teers and leads them. The mounted rangers. Richard M.
Johnson. Okemos. Perry prepares a fleet and sails from
Erie. Defeats British fleet in Battle of Lake Erie. Transports
troops to Canada. Proctor's cowardice. Retreats from Maiden.
Evacuates Detroit and retreats up the Thames. Detroit occu-
Xll CONTENTS.
Page
l^ied by American troops. Hull's flagstaff not used. Pursuit
of Proctor and Battle of the Thames. Tecumseh killed. In-
dians submit to Harrison. Expeditions of McArthur and
Holmes. TTailure to retake Mackinaw. Neglect of Michigan
to commemorate her rescuers. Honors to Captain Hart. Re-
union of \eterans at Monroe 329
CHAPTER XIII.
Administration of Governor Cass. Lewis Cass Governor and William
Woodbridge Secretary of the Territory. Indians troublesome.
Treaty of peace with tribes. Insolence of British officers in
Canada. Search of American vessels at Maiden. Bounty
lands approj^riated in Michigan for soldiers. Report of surveyors
that no fit lands could be found. False statements concerning
the countrv. Counties organized. Indiana and Illinois organized,
and part of Michigan annexed. Territory extended beyond
Lake Michigan. Visit of President Monroe. Sword presented
to General Alexander Macomb from the State of New York.
"Detroit Gazette" established. Unsound currency Michigan
University chartered, and receives various gifts. Sales of public
lands. New counties. County Commissioners appointed. In-
crease of lake commerce. Land carriage by pack horses. Ponies.
People reject offer of representative government. Re -interment
of Captain Hart. I'he steamboat Walk-in-the-Water, the first
lake steamboat. Symmes's Ho^e. Churches incorporated. Dele-
gate to Congress authorized to be elected. Bank of Michigan.
First steam-voyage to Mackinaw Governor Cass's expedition
to the sources of the Mississippi. The British hold Druramond's
Island and subsidize Indians. Thomas, the great chief of the
Menomimes. Indians at the Sault insolent and raise the British
flag. Cass pulls it down. Treaty concluded. Territorial system
of criminal law. Mischief of British presents to Indians. Con-
gress creates new court for the upper country. Large business
there. Territory re-organized with legislative council. Judges
legislated out of office. Changes in offices. Court house built
and used as capitol. Curious manuscript. Meeting of council
and change of officers. Erie canal. " Michigan Flerald" estab-
lished. Governor Cass appoints officers on popular selection.
Captain Burtis's horse-boat, and the steamer " Argo." Indian
captives. Cass and McKenney's expedition. Roads. P^ort
Shelby at Detroit abandoned. Kishkaukon charged with murder.
Commits suicide. Councilmen to be chosen directly by the
people. Supervisor system adopted in counties. Laws concern-
ing colored people. Export of flour and tobacco. Changes on
the bench. Sheldon contempt case. First railroad charter to
CONTENTS. Xlll
Page
Pontiac and Detroit Railroad. Excitement over French Revolu-
tion of 1830. De Tocqueville hears of it between Detroit and
Saginaw. Political removals and appointments of General Jack-
son. Cass made Secretary of War. Leading men and social
affairs in his time. Revised Code of 1827 .'^76
CHAPTER XIV.
Last years of the Territory. Rapid increase of population. Judicial
system. Good character of settlers. People desire to manage
their own affairs. Dislike of foreign appointments. Stevens T.
Mason appointed Secretary while under age. Public remon-
strance. George B. Porter made Governor. Turbulence ot
voung politicians. Death of Judge Trumbull, the author ot
McFnigal. George Morell and Ross Wilkins appointed in lieu
of Judges Woodbridge and Chipman. Popular vote to become a
State. Black Hawk war. Cholera. Extension of Michigan
Territory beyond the Mississippi. Death of Governor Porter
Boundary commission. Henry D. Gilpin nominated as Governor
and rejected by the Senate. Preparations to organize Wisconsin.
Preliminary steps for State organization Difficulties with Ohio
about boundary. Adoption of State constitution, and election of
State officers and representatives in Congress. Charles Shaler
appointed Secretary of the Territory and declines the appoint-
ment. John S. Horner accepts it. Arrives and is not well
received. Lucius Lyon and John Norvell chosen Senators. Con-
gress refuses to admit the State until the people in convention
yield their southern boundary to Ohio. Regular convention
rejects the terms. Irregular or " Frostbitten" convention accepts
them, and the State is admitted. Co-existence of State and
Territorial officers for certain purposes 425
CHAPTER XV.
Michigan under the Constitution of 1835. Sketch of the constitution.
Condition of public travel in 1835. .Sanguine expectations of
prosperity. Educational measures. Internal improvements.
Geological survey. Banking laws. Bounties for manufactures.
Five million dollars loan and its unfortunate history. Large
appropriations for railroads and canals. Frauds and defaults in
the agents of the loan State scrip and State warrants resorted
to to meet liabilities. Canal at Sault Ste. Marie stopped by
United States troops. Remarks on government reserves. Gov-
ernor Mason. Revised statutes of 1838. New revision in 1846.
XIV CONTENTS.
Page
Changes in judicial system. " Patriot War" or Canadian Rebel-
lion. Expatriation question. Free schools in Detroit. Scrip
called in. Political changes. Governor Barry. Movements to
improve Indians. Fictitious surveys of public lands. Indian
names of northern counties changed. Sale of State railroads.
Mexican War. Changes in the Courts. Capital punishment
abolished. The Upper Peninsula and its mines. System of
surveys. Burt's solar compass. Asylums. Normal School.
University. Land Office. Capital removed to Lansing. Adop-
tion of new Constitution 480
CHAPTER XVI.
Michigan under the Constitution of 1850. Comparison of the two Con-
stitutions. Governors of Michigan. Swamp land grant. Ship
canal at the Sault de Ste. Marie built. Mormon occupation of
Beaver Island. King Strang. His assassination. Spoiling the
Mormons. Obstacles to legal proceedings in the Upper Penin-
sula. Prohibitory liquor laws. University affairs. State Reform
School. State charitable institutions and commission of charities.
Grand jury system changed. Rise of the Republican Party.
Military affairs. Embezzlement of State moneys by John Mc-
Kinney, State Treasurer. John Owen, his successor, raised
funds on his own credit until the tax levies came in. War
preparations on the eve of the Rebellion. Michigan during
the Rebellion. Rebel seizure of the steamboat Philo Parsons.
Governors of the State. Judicial changes. Senators. Attempts
to revise the Constitution and their failure. Aid-bonds Ag-
ricultural College grants. Salt. Destruction of timber. Phi-
lanthropic legislation and measures to carry it out. New State
Capitol. State Library. Lady Librarian. Salaries. Summary
of progress 54°
Note to Page 418. — The writer was misled in regard to Mr. De
Tocquevilie, by a friend's hasty reference, which he discovered, (too late
for correction in the text,) arose from a misapprehension. The Memoir
of De Tocquevilie refers to the first anniversary of the Revolution of July,
which he spent in the Michigan woods in the next year, 183 1, and not
to the Revolution itself. He was in France in 1830. The very lively
emotion shown in the reference was retrospective.
OUTLINES
OF THE
POLITICAL HISTORY OF MICHIGAN,
OUTLINES
OF THE
Political History of Michigan.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY.
The political history of Michigan, as a com-
munity governed by its own laws, dates back but
half a century. In the summer of 1824 the first
Legislative Council met, composed of nine mem-
bers, selected by the President and confirmed by
the Senate of the United States out of eighteen
persons chosen by the voters of Michigan Territory.
In 1827, for the first time a Council of thirteen sat,
who were chosen directly by popular vote. Since
that time the affairs of the people have been con-
trolled by their own representatives, subject, dur-
ing the territorial, stage, to a veto of the Gover-
nor appointed by the United States, and to re-
vision by Congress ; and since the organization
of the State to a qualified veto by their own
Governor.
A INTERESTING ERA. [Chap. I.
If that only is political history which covers
the life of the people as a political commonwealth,
it would be safe to begin at the period of en-
franchisement, and to confine our attention to the
fortunes of this region since that time. The
whole population of European descent was then
less than twenty thousand. The cultivated lands,
if placed together, would not have covered a
single county. For about half the year there
was no intercourse with the outer world. The
completion of the Erie Canal was opening the
way for that great course of emigration which has
since brought into the West more people than
were at that time to be found in all the Northern
States ; and for some years thereafter a large
share of those who left New York and New
England to find new homes in the Northwest
settled in TMichigan. Several of our flourishing
towns were founded then or soon after.
The times were notable for other reasons.
Some disputed questions of boundary and in-
demnity under treaties with Great Britain had
just been determined, and the line between the
British and American islands in the dividing
waters of this frontier had been ascertained, so
that the limits of our jurisdiction were fixed for
the first time.
The completed half century of the republic
found us in treaty relations with the Empire of
Russia, and with the new American Republics of
North and South America, which our example
Chap. I.] ORIGIN OF INSTITUTIONS. 5
had led to independence. The first combined
arrangements had been made with Great Britain
for checking the slave trade, which the completion
of the century finds practically abolished. The
history of Michigan, from that period, is one of
very rapid progress, and the last fifty years have
been remarkable years for the whole civilized
world.
But the earliest days of the life of any people
must always have some influence on the future,
and usually one which determines in no small
degree the character of popular institutions and
progress. The institutions of the United States
are mostly natural developments from those of
the earliest settlements ; and those, again, were
modifications of the older British customs, which
have been vigorous and adaptable since times
more distant than any of w^hich we have complete
histories.
The settlements in Michigan were made very
early, and the Canadian annals, to which our first
history belongs, date back of most of those of
the English colonies. The beginnings of Cana-
dian colonization appeared more promising than
those of New England or Virginia. None of the
thirteen commonwealths that declared their inde-
pendence had ever been watched by Great Britain
with that solicitude which was spent on the French
provinces by their home government, or which
has been bestowed on Canada since the other
British possessions separated from it.
4 EARLY FRENCH WRITERS. [Chap. I.
If the commonwealths within the United States
prospered under neglect, and their neighbors
suffered from too much home attention, perhaps
the experience of a region which has been through
both experiences may not be altogether without
value as an example of what may be followed,
and what may be shunned.
The leading features of the colonial history of
Michigan, so far as they show its experience in
matters of government, may be given briefly.
No sketch would be complete without them.
The purposes of this outline will not allow an
extended narrative of those romantic adventures
which add so much life to the annals of this
region. Historians have loved to dwell upon
them, and under the hands of such artists as Park-
man they have assumed the shape and color
of present reality. The older writers have pre-
served many brilliant sketches of the remarkable
events of their times. Hennepin, always graphic,
if not always reliable, was one of the first, if not
the very first, who gave a minute description of
the country about the great lakes, and who
detailed the beginnings of La Salle's discoveries
more faithfully than their sequel. La Hontan, who
has also been charged with exaggeration in some
things, and with some sheer inventions, is never-
theless fully corroborated by other witnesses, in a
great part of his personal narrative, so far as it
concerns our affairs. Charlevoix, who was histor-
ian as well as traveller, has left works of sterling
Chap. I.] COLONIAL DISCORDS. 5
merit and great interest, and his style is very
attractive. He too has left much unsaid, and has,
probably without sinister intentions, colored his
picture according to the strong prejudices of his
order.
The discoveries made among the old records
of the Department of the Marine, and in family
and other collections, have rendered much of the
old histories very unreliable. These papers, which
are now coming to the light, show a very strange
condition of affairs. There seems never to have
been a time when harmony prevailed among all
the influential persons or authorities. The Gover-
nor was frequently and perhaps generally at war
with the Intendant, upon questions of vital policy.
The ecclesiastics were opposed to the views of
the civil officers, and the religious orders were
arrayed secredy or openly against each other.
Official letters written in one sense were qualified
by private despatches in another. Every leading
man had spies upon his conduct, who were them-
selves watched by other spies. The whole truth
seldom reached France from any source ; and the
only means of redress open to many of the lead-
ing spirits of the colony against those who per-
sistently thwarted the Royal intentions in their
favor, was a personal appeal to the King or his
ministers in the mother country. As it was
shrewdly remarked by one of the ministers, the
King's orders lost their force when they crossed
the Bank.
6 INFORMATION SUPPRESSED. [Chap. t.
This Is readily understood, when It Is known
that the first pubHc printing press In Canada was
set up after the EngHsh conquest, about 1764;
and no such thing as pubHc opinion was known
as an Influence In the affairs of government.
News could only get abroad as rumor or gossip.
The only books which criticised the conduct
of the church or state authorities, or which vin-
dicated the reputation of those who were out of
favor were published abroad. No writer could
publish In France any account which was not
satisfactory, as the press was rigidly watched.
The writings of Hennepin and La Hontan, printed
In Holland, were assailed and denounced as the
work of renegades and traitors, and generally
discredited, without discriminating between what
was claimed to be invention and the rest. Many of
the most important documents, which In any other
country would have been made public, never saw
the light until our time.
The eminent author of the Commentary on
the Marine Ordinance of Louis XIV., M. Valln,
complains of the labor of delving in the chaos of
edicts and public documents in the office of the
Admiralty, relating to maritime affairs, which he
speaks of as a prodigious multitude. The collec-
tion of public reports and private letters relating
to colonial affairs, from civil and ecclesiastical
officers and from persons of all occupations, gath-
ered together from all parts of the world, during
a regime when every one was suspected, and
Chap. 1.] COLONIAL DOCUMENTS. J
when colonial gossip was as keenly scrutinised as
colonial business, must be enormous. The Domin-
ion of Canada has drawn largely upon these de-
posits, and the State of New York has published
a valuable selection from them. Further ex-
cerpts have been secured at different times by
General Cass and others. We may hope that
when this material has been thoroughly sifted our
early history may be made complete.
•5 jO:r
CHAPTER II.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS.
The State of Michigan Is a part of the terri-
tory colonised by the French, and held under the
government of New France and Louisiana. It
was never properly a part of Louisiana as a sep-
arate province, although in some of the ancient
maps it appears to have been included in that
region. Its affairs were always under the super-
vision of the authorities In what was afterwards
known as Lower Canada, until the British con-
quest of 1 760-1 763, after which It remained under
military control, until by an act of Parliament
passed in 1774 it was annexed to the province of
Quebec. From Its first discovery until the close of
the French supremacy Its history is a part of the
history of Canada, and most of Its French inhab-
itants were Canadians by birth or connections.
This dependence on Canada was a principal
cause why Michigan was not setded earlier, and
why after setdements were begun they were not
allowed to be multiplied. It was early known
that the lands were exceptionally good, and that
farming could be made very profitable. But the
colonial policy adhered to for a long period did
not encourage the pursuit of agriculture. A wil-
Chap. II.] THE HURONS. 9
derness was more precious in the eyes of the
authorities at Quebec than fields and farms. The
change in sentiment, if it ever came, came too
late, and one prominent cause for the loss of the
American possessions of France, was lack of
people.
It is impossible to determine, with any pre-
cision, at what time this country was first discov-
ered by the French. It must have been visited
by travellers or roving traders long before its
setdement. The fur trade, and especially the
trade in beavers, was the chief and earliest branch
of commerce in the colony, and began with its
beginnings. The Lake country was considered
by Indians and whites as the chief source of sup-
ply for beavers, and for most of the more valua-
ble furs and peltries. Long before the Iroquois
extended their incursions so far to the west, the
peninsula of Upper Canada was a favorite seat
of the Ouendats or Hurons,' who were more
civilized and less nomadic than any of their west-
ern neighbors. The undefined region called the
Saghinan, or Saginaw country, which seems to
have been ' sometimes spoken of as identical
with the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, was famous
for its wealth in beasts of the chase; and de-
I The term Huron is French, and was given to these Indians because
of the appearance of their hair, which was rough and ridged like the bristles
of a wild boar — ''hurey Cheveux Releves was another name of the same
meaning— i. e. with hair standing up— applied by Champlain as is supposed
to the Ottawas. The name of the Hurons used among themselves was
Guendat, anglicised into Wyandot. Huron was an old name for miners. —
2 Mezeray, 148.
10
EARLY MISSIONS. [Chap. 11.
scriptions of it reached the first visitors at Mon-
treal and were heard by Jaques Cartier.
It is possible that the wandering traders may
have had temporary stations on the borders, but
the earliest establishments of which we have any
unquestioned record were the missions. There
are vague references to companies of French
passing up and down the strait now known as
the Detroit River ; and there seems much reason
to believe that a village of Hurons existed at or
near the present site of Detroit very early in the
seventeenth century. There is nothing to indicate
that at that period the passage was dangerous.
The Huron villages, if the accounts of early tra-
vellers are correct, were not much, if any, inferior in
their defensive arrangements, or in their habita-
tions, to some of the first trading posts and mis-
sions. That people, both in language and in
habits, showed evidences of aptitude for civiliza-
tion beyond the ordinary savages. The earliest
missions in the neighborhood of Michigan are
supposed to have been those of the Recollet
Fathers in Upper Canada, near and on Lake
Huron and its affluents, which were founded dur-
ing the time of Champlain, who is reported, but
perhaps on doubtful authority, to have passed
through the strait on one of his journeys, and is
claimed by the official memoirs to have discov-
ered this region in 1612.'
I Champlain's maps show that he knew the connection between Lake
Huron and the lower lakes, though not depicting it with geographical
accuracy.
Chap. II.j feAkLV MISSIONS.
11
Whether any of the missionaries visited this
immediate neighborhood during their residence
among the Hurons at Georgian Bay is not
known. But there is every reason to beHeve
they had a mission of some consequence on the
eastern side of Lake Huron, near its outlet and
not far north from Port Sarnia.
When the Iroquois overran the Huron coun-
try all vestiges of the European settlements dis-
appeared. The Lower Peninsula of Michigan
having been mostly unoccupied by tribal settle-
ments, there was very litde to invite invasion.
In their western excursions the Iroquois appear
on some occasions to have reached the southern
borders of Lake Michigan. But there is no
evidence that they ever dwelt in the lake region
of Michigan ; and if they ever traversed it, they
retained no hold on it. It was never actually
possessed by any but the northern and western
tribes, who were independent nadons, and owed
no fealty, and acknowledged none, to the Iroquois
or their allies.
Missions were founded by the Jesuits on the
northern and southern borders of the Upper Pen-
insula of Michigan. Raymbault and Jogues visited
the Sault de Ste. Marie in 1641, but do riot
seem to have made any establishment, having
returned to their mission at Penetanguishine the
same year. In 1660 Mesnard coasted along the
south shore of Lake Superior as far as the head
of Keweenaw Bay, known as L'Anse. Having
12 MESNARD.
[Chap. TI.
wintered there alone among the Indians, he went
westward in the spring, passing through Portage
Lake, and intending, after crossing the narrow
strip of land known as the Portage, (which has
been recently opened to navigation by a ship
canal,) to continue his journey to Chegoimegon
Bay. This is the bay lying south of the Apostle
Islands, on one of which, at La Pointe, is a very
old settlement and mission. Mesnard had but a
single Indian with him, and while this companion
was removing the canoe and its contents across
the Portage, the missionary, who was an elderly
man and quite feeble, strayed Into the woods, and
disappeared. How he could have been lost
beyond the power of an Indian to discover his
trail, we are not Informed. It is very likely he
was deserted, or worse, by a treacherous guide.
There is, however, a tradition that he was killed
by the Sioux. In October, 1665, Father Allouez
established the Mission of Chegoimegon, or La
Pointe, which had been the destination of Mesnard.
The mission at the Sault de Ste. Marie was
founded by Marquette in 1668. The same year
or the next a mission was founded on the Island
of Michillmackinac, but removed very soon, and
as early as 1669 ^^ 1670, to Pointe St. Ignace on
the main land north of the Straits of Mackinaw
and west of the Island. This place was occupied
for many years. The establishment was after-
wards, (but when Is not precisely known from
published authorities,) transferred to the northern
Chap. II.] MACKINAW MISSION. iO
point of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, not far
from Cheboygan. In Charlevoix's time (1721)
the transfer had been made several years, and
the old mission was abandoned and had fallen
into decay. In Bellin's map of 1744 it is marked
as destroyed. The determination of its precise
location has been attended with some difficulty.
It derives interest from the fact that the remains
of Pere Marquette, some years after his death,
were removed by the Indians from the place of
his first burial, and interred at the church on
Pointe St. Ignace.'
The missions at the Sault de Ste. Marie and
Michilimackinac are regarded as the first com-
pletely ascertained settlements within the present
State of Michigan. There is, at least, undeniable
evidence when these missions were founded.
Both places were important centres of infiuence.
But while they may be assumed as the pioneer
setdements, until further facts are established,
there are some things which deserve reference as
indicadng a possibility to the contrary.
In 1687, ^po^ ^ controversy between the Gov-
ernor General of Canada (Denonville) and Gov.
Dongan of New York, the former and his
agents asserted a French occupancy at Mackinaw
for more than sixty years, and French occupation
on the lower waters of Michigan from twenty-five
I Marquette died on his way to Mackinaw, at the Pere Marquette River,
where the town of Ludington is now situated, and was buried there, until
disinterred as above mentioned.
14 COUREURS DE BOIS. [Chap. II,
to forty years. Gov. Dongan would not admit
this, but was not disposed to admit of any pre-
vious actual possession at all. Without some
definite evidence, such statements can only be
regarded as having more or less probability. At
the same time it is to be considered that except
from missions and military posts no official
reports were likely to be received; and that the
missionary Relations, except where there was
some controversy or difficulty, were not required
to refer to the settlements for other purposes,
and often ignored them entirely. The existence
of defensive posts appears very frequently, in
such casual references in public documents and
letters as are conclusive, when the same places
are not mentioned by historians nor always by
travellers.
The monopoly of the fur trade, and the severe
provisions against irregular trading had given
occasion for a great amount of contraband enter-
prise. The men who engaged in this were an
adventurous class of active and bold rovers called
by the French coureurs de bois, translated by the
English in official papers into " bushlopers," " bush-
rangers" and " wood runners." Many of these
were of the lower classes and dropped readily
into the ways of the Indians, adopting their habits
and becoming adherents to the tribes. But there
were many also, of respectable connections, who
betook themselves to a wandering life of hunting
and trading, partly from love of adventure, and
Chap. II.] COUREURS DE BOIS. 15
partly because they could find no other means of
livelihood. There is no reason to regard them
as a despicable or essentially vicious race. The
men who have been driven to the forest by feudal
oppressions and monopolies have usually been
possessed of many useful qualities, which a better
o-overnment could have turned to great advant-
age. The outlaws of English and Scottish tradi-
tions have generally been popular for good fellow-
ship and sympathy with the poor. They are sel-
dom marked by cruelty or treachery. The. adven-
turers from the English colonies and American
States, who have sought refuge in the woods and
have been the pioneers of discovery in the remote
regions, were not compelled to go except by their
own tastes, and have generally been quite as
honest in their dealings as any of their more
favored brethren, and have, as they deserve, a
very good reputation for many manly virtues.
The coureurs de bois were seldom, if ever, found
guilty of any treachery to the government, which
had no claim upon their respect beyond the fact
that they were of French blood : and this claim
they recognized with pride. The atrocious mono-
polies and exactions which were ultimately chief
incentives to the first French Revolution, led to a
recognition by respectable men of the fact that
the offenders against such t>Tannical regulations
were not necessarily malefactors. Accordingly no
lines were drawn between those who sought the
woods from love of adventure, and those who
16
FAUX-SAULNIERS. [Chap. II.
went from necessity, and to save themselves from
starving. This was practically admitted by the
government itself. In 171 3, when the colonial
government had begun to realize the value of
population, Mons. de Vaudreuil the Governor
General wrote very urgently to France to obtain
one hundred and Mty faux- sauhtie7^s (or contra-
band salt makers) who were sent to the galleys
for interfering with the salt monopolies of the
Farmers General ; these would not consent to
their going at large in France, but the offenders
were not spoken of as in any respect undesirable
colonists.'
In 1 71 7 eighty of these faux-saulniers were
sent to begin the town of New Orleans.''
These bushrangers were the pioneers of French
enterprise and discovery ; and in all the military
movements in the remote regions, as well as nearer
the sea, they were the chief reliance of the gov-
ernment. Their intimacy with the tribes led to a
great ascendancy in the Indian councils, and the
attachment of the savages for these men who were
familiar guests in their w^igwams, and often mar-
ried into the tribes, led to alliances in war. The
British governors and agents attributed the whole
military success of the French colonies to the
bushrangers. In 1700, Robert Livingston in an
official report declares, that " we can never ran-
counter the French, unless we have bushlopers as
I 2 Charlevoix, 403. 2 2 Charlevoix, 434.
Chap. II.] IRREGULAR POSTS.
17
well as they."' And Pownall in his elaborate re-
port to the Congress of Albany in 1754, points
out very forcibly the advantages of the French
military settlements for colonizing purposes on the
borders.^
The numbers of these bushrangers were great,
and they frequently consorted in large companies.
There is every reason to believe that they went
into the wilderness and formed temporary or
permanent trading posts much earlier than the
date of any of the recognized establishments.
And while the existence of these posts was
doubtless known to the governors and colonial
authorities, they were unlawful settlements and
obtained no place in the annals of the colony.
In all expeditions towards the unsettled regions,
these men formed a necessary part. The fur
companies from the earliest days to our own
time were obliged to employ their services, and
their hardy endurance and untiring good nature
are familiar to every one whose memory takes in
any reminiscences of the northwestern fur trade.
The Jesuit missionaries, however, seem to have
held them in great abhorrence. They were no
doubt somewhat indisposed to extreme subservi-
ence to the clergy, while the claims of the Jesuits
went far beyond what was allowed to be their
due by the French government or its local repre-
sentatives. Their roving habits led in many
I 4 N. Y._Doc., 650. 2 6 N. Y. Doc, 893.
2
18 JESUIT MISSIONARIES. [Chap. II.
cases to conduct which was very censurable, and
Interfered with the success of the missions. But
it is impossible to believe that these men were as
bad as their enemies have painted them ; and in
judging them we must not forget that those who
opposed them most strenuously were opposed
also to the policy of extending French settlements
at all. The motives of their opponents have been
discussed very sharply by most of the writers
who have succeeded them, and the documents in
the Marine Department have shown beyond con-
troversy that the French government found some
of its most serious difficulties in dealing with an
order whose devotion and courage deserve high
eulogiums, but who did not make the Interests of
France or Canada their primary consideration.
But at the same time that as a body the Jesuit
missionaries did not desire French settlements in
the Northwest, we are Indebted to some of them,
of whom Marquette is a noble example, for great
services In exploring the country, and accurate
geographical Information. They were second to
none in their contributions to geographical knowl-
edge In both hemispheres; and as remarkable for
courage and perseverance as for scientific research.
Whatever mav have been the truth in reo^ard to
the reasons which led them to act as they did,
there Is no ground for suspecting them of Indi-
vidual selfishness. Their zeal for their order was
unbounded, but they were devoted and unselfish
in obeying It.
Chap. II.] EARLY NORTHERN POSTS. 19
We may assume, whatever may have been
the previous acquaintance of the French with
this region, that the Michigan settlements began
with those at MichiHmackinac and the Sault de
Ste. Marie. The creation of miHtary posts and
civil settlements at these places was almost con-
temporaneous with the missions, and began the
policy which, although opposed and hindered, was
at length to prevail. Had this policy of settle-
ment begun earlier and continued unopposed, the
destiny of Canada might have been changed.
CHAPTER III.
PREPARATIONS FOR WESTERN OCCUPATION.
The movements for the settlement of the
Northwest began in earnest about the year 1670.
Louis XIV. had developed into a king of bound-
less ambition, and had a natural anxiety to extend
his dominions into remote regions. China and
the East Indies were at that time looked upon as
mines of wealth, open to any European monarch
with courage and enterprise enough to reach
out for them. The reports which had come in
various forms from the Northwest brought rumors
of short and easy ways through the American
woods and rivers to the South Sea, and it was
believed the rich countries of the east were
within no very long distance across the continent.
Louis and his ministers determined to open and
control this passage ; and the extension of Cana-
dian settlements was in their view a necessary
step to that end. The royal designs had always
favored settlements, but it was very difficult to
know what course was best, when secret intrigues
and conflicting interests kept up a series of con-
tradictory representations.
The governors, who were generally anxious
to extend the colony, were entangled in all man-
Chap. III.] ST. LUSSON AT THE SAULT.
21
ner of snares, and were misrepresented and op-
posed by those who would find no profit in the
extended jurisdiction of civil government. And
the first efforts to extend the royal dominions
resulted only in the establishment of a few mili-
tary posts. But the explorations had a permanent
value. .^
In 1669 or 1670, Talon, then Intendant of
New France, sent, or claimed the credit of send-
ing out, two parties to discover the South Sea
passage. It was supposed for some time that
the short route from Lake Superior to Hudson's
Bay was all that lay between the colony and the
South Sea. This notion prevailed in Champlain's
time; and while further experience had created
doubts concerning the precise way, it was still
thought the upper lake road was likely to be the
true one. De St. Lusson was accordingly des-
patched in that direction, and Robert Cavelier,
Sieur de La Salle, was ordered to the southward.
St. Lusson pursued his journey energetically,
and on his return in 1671, he held a council of
all the northern tribes at the Sault de Ste. Marie,
where they formed an alliance with the French,
and acknowledged their supremacy.'
From that time forward it would appear that
there was a military post kept up beside the
mission, and the traders made it a rallying point.
I He supposed that he had been within 300 leagues from the Vermilion
or South Sea and the Western Sea, where there was but 1500 leagues more
of navigation to Tartary, China and Japan. — 9 A^. V. Doc, 72.
22 FRENCH AND INDIAN INTERCOURSE. [Chap. III.
The French in their early deaHngs with the
Indians, and especially with the Iroquois, had
done very much like the English, and made no
attempt to conciliate them. But they discovered
the mistake, and by resorting to friendly methods
very soon conciliated most of their savage
neighbors. The chiefs and people were treated
courteously, and without that haughty arrogance
which has too often attended the dealinor of the
whites with the natives. The French settlers
received and dealt with them on relations of
equality, and they lived together on the kindest
terms. It has been noticed by all who are fam-
iliar with frontier life that the social relations of
the French and Indians are exceptionally pleasant.
The young, men were at home among the tribes,
and often spent months with them, hunting and
roving. The wigwam fare contented them, and
they lived as their hosts lived. They were often
formally adopted as chiefs, and acted as friends
of the tribe whenever it was necessary to inter-
vene on their behalf. It was also very common
for the kindly French woman to receive the
young girls into her house, and teach them
household industry. The removal of the Indians
from Michigan has broken up these ancient ties,
but it was once a pleasant as well as familiar
sight to witness the delight with which the old
chiefs and their French brothers met, after a long
separation, and exchanged their experiences.
The alliance formed under the direction of
Chap. III.] DOLLIER AND GALINEE
23
St. Lusson was the primary means of closing the
Northwest against the EngHsh until after the
conquest.
La Salle, who was afterwards to become more
famous than St. Lusson, did not at this time com-
plete his explorations. There were joined with
him in his expedition two seminary priests,
Dollier de Casson and Galinee. Dollier was a
man of great personal strength, and an old officer
of cavalry under Turenne. Galinee was especially
skilled in surveying, and was to act as geographer.
They all kept together until, after waiting in the
country of the Senecas for a guide, they changed
their plans and went to the head of Lake Ontario,
where they met Louis Joliet. He had come down
from the upper lakes, and recommended them to
take that course instead of going to the Ohio.
Dollier and his companion concluded to do this,
and La Salle remained behind. They spent the
winter at Lone Point on the north shore of Lake
Erie, and in the spring set out again, but having
lost most of their baggage by a storm at Pointe
Pelee, they concluded to return to Montreal.
They passed up the Detroit River, and near the
present city of Detroit found a rude stone idol
of repute as a manitou, and worshipped by the
Indians. These objects of superstition seem to
have been found in several places about the
lakes, and received offerings of tobacco and
other articles. The nearest one above Detroit
was the White Rock in Lake Huron, which Mr.
24 IMAGE - BREAKING. • L^HAr. lit.
Schoolcraft passed on his journey In 1820 with
Gen. Cass's expedition towards the source of
the Mississippi.' The zealous missionaries relate
that after their recent misfortunes there was no
one In the party who was not filled with hatred
against the false divinity. They broke the Idol
in pieces with one of their axes, and contrived,
by joining two canoes, to take the largest frag-
ment Into deej5 water with the remainder, and so
disposed of the abomination.
This Is said by Mr. Parkman to be the first
passage through Detroit River of which a record
has been preserved, although not the first In fact.^
The same reliable writer has discovered evidence
of the continued labors of La Salle during the
next few years, of which no full account has been
published, which Indicates that he was not without
success In his preliminary work. But the Report
of Courcelles in 1671 shows an accurate know-
ledge of the geography of all the lakes but Lake
Michigan, which must have come from earlier
explorations, and which was not much Improved
upon by subsequent travellers.^
1 Mr. Schoolcraft in that expedition remarked that he did not see any
offerings except of articles of no value, and cjuestioned the extent of the
reverence paid the images. Joutel in his journey says the Indians feared
death unless they made offerings, and Charlevoix speaks of offerings as acts
of homage. — Ckatlevoix, Letter 19, Joutei, (i La Hist. Doc.) 182. Henry
gives several illustrations of these superstitions. — Henry's Travels passim.
2 Discovery of the Great West, 16, 17.
3 9 N. Y. Doc, 81. Id., p. 21.
Chap. III.] TRADE jEALOUStES. 25
Meanwhile the posts of Michlllmackmac and
the Sault were becoming- more important, as the
traders extended their enterprises. About this
time several names appear in history which are
prominent among the great discoverers and
leaders. Most of them were recognized chiefs of
the coureurs de bois. And their place in our
early annals is due to a course of affairs which
was noteworthy.
The fur trade, as already mentioned, was
regarded at Quebec and Montreal, as it was in
the New York posts, as the chief end and aim of
colonial enterprise. Every one, from the Gov-
ernor down, was suspected, and perhaps justly,
of having a part in it ; and the principal struggle
seems to have been between the monopolists and
the irregular traders. The church revenues were
increased by it, and widows and orphans were
allowed privileges which they sold profitably. The
result was that the country swarmed with the
coureurs de bois, who were the indispensable agents
of all parties legally or illegally engaged in the
traffic. The missionaries were opposed to them,
for the assigned reason that they demoralized the
Indians whom they were laboring to convert. For
the same reason they opposed the forming ot
posts and establishments on the frontier. The
monopolists sometimes succeeded in getting such
restrictions laid upon the post commanders as pre
vented them from dealing on their own accoun
with the Indians for certain kinds of furs, and
26 CARIGNAN REGIMENT. [Chap. III.
when the trade was in the hands of the great
companies, as it was a large part of the time,
they had their own agents at the forts.
The result was that a contraband trade grew
up, which it was asserted brought the furs into
the hands of the English, and built up their com-
merce. Their emissaries were also said to be
getting into friendly relations with the Western
tribes, and drawincr them into trade with the Iro-
quois and the New York agencies.
The influences which were brought to bear on
the French government were secret but powerful,
and the com^eurs de bois were outlawed and pro-
scribed unless they came in and ceased their wan-
derings. The Governor, with a patriotic desire
to save the colony from the destruction which this
would have inevitably brought upon it, succeeded
in so far modifying this policy as to put them
under some reasonable regulation, whereby he
saved their services to the colony and secured the
trade. The frontiers were reached by leaders of
reputation, and posts were planted so judiciously
as to shut out the English altogether. These
men deserve special mention.
When the Marquis de Tracy came out as Vice
Roy in 1665, it was with the expectation of using
strong measures to suppress the Iroquois, who
were aggressive and were regarded as dangerous
neighbors. For this crusade against the Western
infidels he brought out the famous Carignan Reg-
iment, which had been first organized in Savoy,
Chap. III.] COLONIAL NOBLESSE. 27
and was afterwards turned over to the French
King. It was a famous body of troops which
had won its latest laurels in fiorhtine aoainst the
Turks on the Austrian frontier. The officers were
all gentlemen belonging to the noblesse, of French
or Italian origin, and of tried valor. With this
regiment another had been consolidated, known as
that of Salieres, and the whole force was there-
after known as the Carignan-Salieres Regiment.
The colonial levies were also under the command
of officers of good birth, most of whom are still
represented among the French families of Canada
and the Northwest.
When the Iroquois war was over, the officers
and men of the Carignan Regiment were mostly
retained in the country. Many of the former
obtained Seigneuries, and attempted to get a sup-
port from their new estates. But the early tra-
vellers give a sad account of the straits to which
these veterans were exposed, in keeping the wolf
from the door. They were brave and adventu-
rous, and worthy to rank with those early heroes
of discovery, Gilbert and Raleigh and Drake,
who found in the favor of Oueen Elizabeth incen-
tives to enterprise which her successors could
not appreciate. They were mostly devoted mem-
bers of the Gallican Church, but not on as eood
terms with the Jesuits as with the other orders,
who paid less attention to the Indians and more
to their own countrymen. The French court
and the Governors General appreciated the value
28 HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. fCHAr. HI.
of soldiers. The civilians were more attentive to
the interests of trade, and looked upon the bold
adventurers, who '* would rather hear the bird
sing than the mouse squeak," as the Sheriff of
Nottingham did on Robin Hood.
The sagacious ministers had determined to
use this valuable material to extend discovery.
The expeditions which Talon reports himself to
have sent out were probably suggested, at least,
from France. It is one of the curious facts con-
nected with the colonial administration that the
public documents are usually made to exhibit the
local authorities as originating everything, when
the facts brought to light from other sources, in
the Marine Department and elsewhere, show that
they were compelled to permit what they osten-
sibly directed. But, however this may be, it had
become necessary to move in the matter, or run
the risk of serious difficulty in the future.
On the second day of May, 1670, Charles II.
issued letters patent incorporating " The Governor
and Company of Adventurers of England, trading
into Hudson's Bay," granting them the sole trade
and commerce of the waters within the entrance
of Hudson's Straits, except in the lands not
granted to others nor possessed by any other
Christian prince or state. The ignorance that pre-
vailed on the subject of the boundaries between the
two nations in those parts, and the certainty that
future boundaries must depend much on actual
control or occupancy, made it necessar)^ to move
Chap. III.] CHECKS AND BALANCES.
29
at once, or run a risk of losing command of the
Northern trade.'
At this time New York was In possession of
the Dutch, but a few years after, in 1674, this
also passed into the hands of the English, who
were disposed to make the most of their chances,
and anxious to form such trading connections as
would have hemmed in Canada, and shut off its
whole western and northwestern traffic.
In 1672 Colbert advised Talon to offer a re-
ward for the discovery of the South Sea. The
King and Colbert united at or about the same
time in a secret letter to Frontenac, which gives
a curious illustration of the diplomacy of the
period. Expressing warm commendation of the
clergy of both orders for their devotion and ser-
vices to relia"ion, and commendincr them to hirfi
consideration, it advises the Governor, without
creating any apparent rupture, to restrain the
designs of the Jesuit Fathers in Quebec within
proper bounds of respect for the temporal author-
ity, and to encourage and protect the ecclesiastics
of the Seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal as
well as the Recollet Fathers, in Quebec, — " it
being necessary to support the two ecclesiastical
bodies, in order to counterbalance the authority
I In May. 1872, my valued friend, Hon. David Mills, M. P., presented
to the Dominion Government an elaborate and thorough report on the boun-
daries of the Province and of the Hudson's Bay Company, which is of much
historical value, and contains information not, so far as I know, made public
in any other work. — See A Repot t on the Boundaries of the Province of On-
tario. By David Mills, M. P. Toronto, 1873.
30 JOLIET'S EXPEDITION. [Chap. III.
the Jesuit Fathers might assume to the prejudice
of His Majesty."' The next effective action may
not have orimnated in Quebec, but Frontenac and
Talon, the Intendant, both appear to have favored it.
In 1672, Grandfontaine, Governor of Acadia, sent
JoHet to the Mascoutin country (Wisconsin) to
discover the South Sea and the Mississippi River,
which was supposed to discharge itself into the
Gulf of California.^ He was joined at Mackinaw
by Father Marquette, and on the 17th of May,
1673, they left the Mission of St. Ignace on
one of the most successful of the early explora-
tions. They went up the Fox. River and across
the portage, to the Wisconsin, and thus reached
the Mississippi on the 17th of June. In another
month they reached below the 34th parallel of
latitude in the country of the Akansas, and then
returned, reaching Green Bay at the end of Sep-
tember. Joliet went on to Quebec in the next
year, arriving there during the summer. The
Governor reports him as having found continuous
navigation excepting at Niagara, from Lake
Ontario to the Gulf of Mexico, and as having
discovered admirable countries. ^ Mr. Shea, in
his excellent history of the Discovery of the
Mississippi River, gives a copy of that portion of
Frontenac's Report which refers to this journey in
the original French, as it refutes one of Henne-
1 9 N. Y. Doc, 88.
2 Frontenac's Letter to France. See 9 N. Y. Doc, 92.
3 9 N. Y, Doc, 121.
Chap. III. J LA SALLE. 31
pin's assertions concerning Joliet's failure to report
to the crovernment.'
Joliet probably went eastward through the
Detroit River and Lake Erie.
In 1675, a patent of nobility was granted to
Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, for meritorious
services.^ Among the things which His Majesty
regards as especially worthy of reward among
his Canadian subjects, is "despising the greatest
perils, in order to extend to the ends of this New
World our name and our dominion." It is to be
inferred that La Salle had spent some time, at
least, in distant explorations which have not yet
been published.
Meanwhile there is nothing of record bearing
directly on the history of Michigan, beyond the
occasional references to the missions and the
traders. There is reason to believe that Du
Luth and others had already penetrated far into
the Northwest, and the reports which credit him
with the discovery of the Upper Mississippi are
not improbable. Hennepin was rescued by him
in July, 1680, in the upper country, and it was
probably familiar ground.
In 1678, La Salle, having returned to France,
obtained Royal letters authorizing him to spend
five years in exploring, with liberty to build forts
where he should deem it necessary, and hold
1 Shea's History of Discovery of the Mississippi, p. xxxiii.
2 9 N. Y. Doc, 125.
32
CHEVALIER DE TONTY. [Chap. III.
them with the same privileges as his fort at
Frontenac. He was not to trade with the
Outawacs (Ottawas) or others who bring their
beavers and peltries to Montreal, but was to
have the right to trade in buffalo-skins. There
is reason to believe that La Salle had with the
concurrence of Frontenac and others given a lib-
eral construction to his trading privileges at Fort
Frontenac, and such seems to have been a com-
mon practice.
He returned to Canada, having with him an
associate who from that time onward was his
faithful friend and follower, and who was one of
the most efficient men that ever came to Amer-
ica. His name appears constantly in the early
records of dealings in Michigan. This was Henry,
the Chevalier de Tonty. He was of Italian
origin, but his father. Lorenzo Tonty had settled
in Paris, and was there as early as 1653, as in
that year he submitted to the King the financial
scheme of life interests and survivorships once
quite popular under the name of Tontine. The
Chevalier began his military career in the French
army as a cadet in 1668, and served several
years by land and water, the naval service then
not having been separated from the military as
completely as it has been since. During the Sici-
lian Campaign he lost a hand at Libisso by a
grenade, and was taken prisoner, and exchanged
six months after. His hand was replaced by one
of steel, which gave him the name of Iron-hand,
Chap. III.] THE GRIFFIN. 33
among- the Indians who had great respect for
him. He returned again to the wars, but when
peace was declared he was thrown out of em-
ployment. He was recommended to La Salle by
the Princess of Conti, and when that leader came
back to Canada Tonty came with him. Henry
de Tonty had a younger brother who was for a
long time in command at Detroit, and was there
when Charlevoix visited the place in 1721. On
his return to America La Salle at once becjan
preparations for his work. He met with many
embarrassments, but finally, in the winter of 1678-9,
began building a vessel of sixty tons burden, a
few miles above Niagara Falls. This was com-
pleted in the spring or early summer of 1 679.
This vessel, which was the first that ever sailed
on Lake Erie or the upper lakes, was called the
Griffin, and bore a carved image of that heraldic
monster as a figure-head, in honor of Frontenac,
being part of his coat of arms. And in further
evidence of his fealty to his friend and patron, La
Salle is reported to have boasted that he would
make the Griffin fly higher than the ravens, the
black-gowns or Jesuits having gained that sobri-
quet. The little ship was provided with five
small cannon and two arquebuses a croc, or wall-
pieces usually mounted on tripods. The quarter-
deck castle was surmounted by a carved eagle.
A vessel of that tonnage was narrow quarters for
the number of men in the company, and the old
engravings (which, though not probably from
3
34
RIBOURDE. MEMBRE. HENNEPIN. [Chap. III.
drawings, represented die usual style of that time)
show the high stern and after cabin, which were
then universal, and may have had something to
do with her final wreck. It is worthy of notice
that skilled mechanics and artists should be found
in such an expedition. The old chapels in the
Northwest, where there was no local demand for
artists, sometimes show bits of carving which
would be creditable anywhere, and indicate great
skill in the early workmen. On this eventful
voyage, in addition to his sailors and other follow-
ers, La Salle was accompanied by three priests.
Gabriel de la Ribourde, the last scion of an old
family of Burgundian nobles, came out in his old
age to preach the gospel in the wilderness, and
was head of the mission, although Hennepin con-
veys the impression that he himself was in fact,
if not in name, both civil and religious director.
Father Zenobe Membre was of less note, but
evidently a good and faithful man. Hennepin,
whose reputation is not savory, was the third.
The latter wrote various versions of the history
of the expedition, which are in many respects
sufficiently reliable, but which are grossly unfair
to La Salle and Tonty as well as others, and to
which in the later editions are appended narra-
tives that are generally discredited. These appen-
dages do not concern Michigan, and need not be
discussed. He was evidently distrusted by La
Salle and Tonty. He accounts for the enmity
of the former, by alleging he had rebuked him
Chap. III.] THE GRIFFIN SAILS. O 5
freely for religious shortcomings. He lays Tonty's
dislike to the inveterate hatred of the old soldier
against all subjects of the King of Spain ; and
his suspicion of the monk's fidelity was extreme,
and, as it turned out, not illfounded.
The vessel was manned by voyageurs and
other men of experience in the country, and the
pilot Lucas was an old salt water mariner of
some pretensions. There is no doubt but that
La Salle had taken some pains to supply himself
with proper material for his expedition.
On the seventh of August, 1679, the Griffin
started on her first voyage to the Northwest,
beginning her course with the singing of the Te
Deum, and the firing of cannon. The wind was
favorable and she made a quick passage over
Lake Erie, anchoring at the mouth of Detroit
River or the Strait on the evening of the tenth
of August.
CHAPTER IV.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN MICHIGAN.
The Griffin was built during the winter and
spring of 1679. In the autumn of 1678 La vSalle
sent forward some Frenchmen to winter at Detroit,
and meet him when he should come up in the
next summer. This would indicate a knowledge
of the country, and an assurance that there was
some place suitable for a winter abode. Allusion
has already been made to the fact that the early
narratives often make no reference whatever to
the existence of posts and Indian villages lying
directly in the way of the traveller. The narra-
tives of the voyage of the Griffin do not inform
us of any sight of human beings between Niagara
and Mackinaw\ We have no certain means of
knowing whether there was any Indian town, or
any post of coureurs de bois, upon the Strait at
the time. There must have been one or the
other in all probability. Tonty was sent up in a
canoe in advance of the Griffin, to join the others
at " a place called Detroit, 1 20 leagues from
Niagara." This fact appears in Tonty's own
narrative or memoir sent to the Government in
1693, where he repeatedly refers to Detroit as a
Chap. IV.] THE STRAIT. 37
place that can be identified as at or near where
the city of Detroit now stands/ It may have been
that the Indian town mentioned by Golden as at
" Tetuhsa Grondie' was still in existence. The
term written by the English and Dutch interpreters
in a multitude of different ways more or less
resembling it, and by the French as Taochiarontion,
Atiochiarontiong, Teiocharontiong, Techaronkion,
etc., was applied properly to an undefined region
embracing the Strait,' and according to Hennepin,
It gave a name to Lake Erie. Several of the old
maps give it this title. The name given by the
Hurons to the place where the city stands was
Karontaen, a word closely resembling If not the
same as Carantoiian, the great stronghold where
Champlain's follower, Etienne Brule, spent a winter
with a tribe supposed by Parkman to have been
the Erles.3 These men were not sent up to
explore, and it Is difficult to believe they would have
been turned out without a leader In an unknown
wilderness.
On the I ith of August, 1679, the vessel weighed
anchor and entered the Strait. The party were
gready charmed with all that they saw, and the nar-
1 I La. Documents, 53, 68, 69, 70.
2 Taochiarontion. La Cote du Detroit.— /'^//Vr y1/6'. '' ( ote'' was used
as 'Woasf' was in old English, not merely to mark a hill or water boundary,
but a vicinage or border-land.
3 Pioneers of PVance in the New World, 377-8.
The Jesuit Journal of 1653 (for July) speaks of 800 of the neutral
nation wintering at Skenchid'ie, near Teiochanontian. In the New Vork doc-
uments the English and Dutch forms of the name are 19 in number.
38 LAKE ST. CLAIR. [Chap. IV.
ratlve of Hennepin, (like those of La Hontan and
Charlevoix,) is almost rapturous in its expressions
of admiration for the tall woods and verdant mead-
ows, the fruits and vines, and the infinite abundance
of birds and beasts. We are informed that La Salle
was strongly urged to stop and settle on the Strait,
but his real purpose, not then disclosed, was to com-
pete with the Spaniards for the Lower Mississippi
and Gulf Country, and so early a break in his voy-
age was not to be thought of.
On the 1 2th of August, which is known in the
Calendar as Ste. Claire's day, they entered the Lake
formed by an expansion of the vStrait, and named
it after that Saint. Modern geographers have
called it Lake St. Clair, and referred its name to
Patrick Sinclair, an English commander of the last
century. Its Huron name was Otsiketa, signifying
sugar or salt, and probably referring to the salt
springs near Clinton River, which were well known
in the earliest days of the country.' Here they
were wind-bound for several days, the current of
the upper Strait, (St. Clair River) being too strong
to be overcome without a very fair breeze. They
finally set out and reached Lake Huron on the
23rd. They Vv^ere struck by a storm a day or
two after, probably off Saginaw Bay, and were for
a time in great peril. The gale abating, they
reached Mackinaw safely. On the 2nd of Sep-
I This little lake also had various names. One was Lac Chaudiere
(kettle) from its round shape. On the Duteh maps it is called Kandekio.
On some of the French maps Ganntchio. — See Maps hi Michigan State
Libtarv.
Chap. IV.J FORT AT ST. JOSEPH RIVER. 39
tember La Salle left Mackinaw, and after visiting
Green Bay, whence he despatched the Griffin east-
ward with a valuable cargo of furs, he coasted
down the eastern shore of Lake Michicran and
finally landed at the mouth of the St. Joseph
River, then called the River of the Miamis.
There he built a timber fort or block-house fifty by
eighty feet. He subsequently went up that river
and crossed over to the Illinois River, and thence
worked down to the Mississippi.
This fort does not appear to have been of
much consequence originally, and there was never
any outside settlement of whites about it. In
1697, when an attempt was made to induce the
King to call In all the traders from the North-
west, and destroy the posts, an exception was
proposed in favor of the forts at Mackinaw and
the River St. Joseph, as necessary to obstruct the
trade of the English and Iroquois with the
Western and Northern Indians.' A few years
before (in 1691 or 1692) some English traders
were said to have dealt with the Miamis near
the latter post,^ and Tonty, Courtemanche, Nicholas
Perrot, and other noted leaders, were sent up to
keep the Indians in the Erench interest. When
Charlevoix visited the country in 1721, he spent
some time at this post, which had then been re-
1 2 Charlevoix Hist., 211-212.
2 In 1670 some Iroquois reached the Ottawa country under the guidance
of Frenchmen, on a political mission. — 9 JV. Y. Doc, 84.
40 DV LUTH. [Chap. IV.
moved some distance up the river into the
present State of Indiana.
Meanwhile this region, from its abundance of
furs, and from its lying in the path of all who
soueht to deal in those articles, was assumino^
considerable importance. The coureurs de bois
had become very numerous, and there was great
clamor a^J^ainst them. The Encrlish in New York
were reaching out as far as they could for the
Upper Country trade. The company at Quebec,
in order to prevent beaver-smuggling, desired to
exclude all but their own servants from the woods.
We find constant reference to Du Luth, De la
Foret, Durantaye, De Lusigny, and other con-
spicuous characters, as not only active in explor-
ing, but engaged in unlawful traffic. These men
were all useful in defending the posts and holding
the savages under control, and without them the
close of the seventeenth century would have seen
this region in the hands of the English. Du Luth,
with great foresight, built a fort on the Kam-
inistique River, on the north shore of Lake
Superior, which completely shut off access to the
Hudson Bay country from below, according to
the routes then known. He was the first also
to see the necessity of fortifying on the Strait.
In 1679, while La Salle was preparing for his
journey, the Intendant Duchesneau made bitter
complaints against Frontenac the Governor and
Du Luth, as concerned together. He says that
500 or 600 brave men were in the country own-
Chap. I V.J JEALOUSIES. 41
Ing Du Luth as commander.' De Lusigny, Du
Luth's brother-in-law, was also charged as im-
plicated. In 1680, It was said that every family
had friends among the coiir^citrs de bois.
That year an amnesty was granted. The
reason appears In the Increasing pretensions and
Incursions of the Iroquois, and the need of soldiers
for the posts on Lakes Erie and Ontario to re-
strain them." In 1682, De la Barre became
Governor, and his policy was bold and active.
Du Luth was received more openly Into favor,
and naturally aroused new enmity In certain
quarters. 3 He was present at a council In Quebec
that year, and may have suggested, what was a
familiar Idea with La Motte Cadillac, that the
Lakes needed armed vessels to guard the way to
the west. De la Barre proposed to have a fleet
stationed on Lake Erle.^ He had a poor Idea of
the value of La Salle's explorations, and La Salle
In turn regarded him and Du Luth and De la
Foret as enemies who had Interfered with his
Interests. La Salle appears to have had some
notion that he had pre-empted the country.
These trade jealousies were possibly well founded,
but they show how demoralizing the whole monop-
oly system must have been. Du Luth was so
pressed by calumny, that he went to France and
there was able to vindicate himself completely, so
that no more Is heard against him. On his return
1 9 N. Y. Doc, 131, 132, 140. 3 9 N. Y. Doc, 194.
2 9 N. Y. Doc, 147. • 4 9 N. Y. Doc, 196.
42 THE ENGLISH AIM AT MACKINAW. [Chap. IV.
he assumed the defence of Mackinaw, co-operat-
*ino- widi De la Durantaye, an old Carignan
officer, of great bravery,' but not fortunate in his
finances; and these two gentlemen appear to have
acted together in many enterprises, until the former
was recalled by PYontenac to the east/ In 1683,
I)u Luth is declared to be the only person who
can keep the Indians quiet. But he continued in
bad odor with the Company, and in 1684, De la
Barre, Du Luth, De la Chesnaye, and Deschaillons
de St. Ours, are paraded in a memoir on the sup-
pression of beaver smuggling as prime offenders.^
These incessant attacks upon the best men in the
colony, by a set of grasping knaves who would
have had no country to prey upon without them,
are not edifying.
In 1684, ^^^ I3. Barre, in recognition of the
importance of the route through Lake Erie and
the Strait, sent an army to Mackinaw that way.
About this time disputes arose between him and
Governor Donean of New York on the French
pretensions to Michigan, and both De la Barre
and his successor Denonville had a sharp corres-
pondence with Dongan on the subject. It became
evident that the latter was sdrring up the Iroquois
to dispute possession with the French, and plans
were made to send up English traders and agents
in the direcdon of Mackinaw, to deal with the
tribes there. ^ In 1686, Denonville directed Du
I 9 N. V. Doc, 201-2. 2 9 N. Y. Doc, 205.
3 9 N, V. Doc, 297. I I, a Ilontan, 78, 79. Id., 300.
Chap. IV.] FORT ST. JOSEPH ON ST. CLAIR RIVER. 43
Luth to fortify the Strait. This was at once done,
and the latter estabHshed a post ("or castle," as
it was termed by the English agents,) at the
head of the Strait, at or very near the present
Fort Gratiot. He began his work with a garrison
of fifty men, well equipped, and all coui^eiirs dc
bois. This fort was called Fort St. Joseph. In
November of that year, in the memoir sent to
France by the Governor, he refers to it with
great satisfaction as having turned out to be an
important defence.' It also appears that Dongan
had given reason to believe he would take meas-
ures to attack it.^ Rig^id orders were sent out to
shoot any Frenchman found among foreign tra-
ders who might be met in the country.^
Governor Dongan reports the fact that the
French had built one or two wooden forts on the
way to the far Indians, who, he says, were inclined
to trade in New York, because the French could
not protect them from the Iroquois. "* But as the
Iroquois represented to the English that they
were unable to cope with the French, and as the
Mackinaw and other Michigan Indians were not
disturbed by the Iroquois, this statement may
pass for a pretext. The Governor also informed
his superiors that he was about sending a Scotch
gentleman called McGregor (McGregory) to open
communications with the distant tribes, adding
(which was also under the circumstances a very
1 9 N. Y. Doc, 306. 3 Id., 315.
2 Id., 309. 4 3 N. Y. Doc, 395.
44 CAPTURE OF ENGLISH PARTY. [Chap. IV.
curious statement) that McGregory had orders
not to meddle with the French, and he hoped
they would not meddle with him.
This expedition, consisting of sixty English and
Dutch traders and a considerable escort of Iro-
quois, left for Mackinaw, a part in 1686 and a
part very early in 1687. ^^ was divided into two
nearly equal companies, a IJutch trader named
Roseboom going first, and McGregory following
him with orders to take supreme command. It
does not appear very plainly what course Rose-
boom took, but he seems to have got into Lake
Huron without being seen from Fort St. Joseph.
The men who were with him stated he had gone
to a distance of a day and a half's journey from
the castle, when he was captured by a force of
French and Indians. The capture appears to
have been made by a party under De la Duran-
taye.' Whether casually or by agreement, there
happened at this very juncture a remarkable
gathering of distinguished officers. The Chevalier
de Tonty, in April, 1687, (after returning with
orders from the Governor General,) had taken
measures to gather the Indians in Western Michi-
gan and in the Illinois Country, and to declare
war against the Iroquois. La Foret had gone on
by way of the Lakes from Fort St. Louis with
thirty Frenchmen, to wait at Detroit until Tonty
arrived over-land; and he reached Fort St. Joseph
at or about the same time when Durantaye came
I I l.a Montan, 1 15.
Chap. IV.] McGRECiORY TAKEN. 45
In with his captives. Tonty left Sieur de Belle-
fontaine to command at the fort on St. Joseph
River, and came across Michigan with 1 50 Illinois
Indians, arriving at "Fort Detroit" on the 19th
of May. He remained at this point, which was
the present site of the city of Detroit, and sent
up word of his coming to his cousin Du Luth at
Fort St. Joseph. In a few days he was joined by
Beauvais de Tilly (or more properly Tilly de
Beauvais)' and soon after by La Foret, who was
followed by Durantaye and Du Luth with their
prisoners. They joined forces and went down
Lake Erie in canoes, and on their way captured
McGregory with thirty Englishmen and some
allied Indians, and some French and Indian cap-
tives. The depositions of McGregory's party state
that the French party consisted of 1500. The
Governor's report puts them at 400. Tonty does
not mention the number. They were going to
Niagara, expecting to fight the Iroquois,^ and the*
officers who were engaged were the prominent
leaders of the Northwest.^ A laro-e amount of
booty was captured with the two companies.
Tonty who was senior in command sent forward
La Foret to report to the Governor, and he
reached Frontenac, where the Governor was in
camp, about the end of June. The army from
below joined the Western forces at a point on
the south shore of Lake Ontario, where they
1 I La. Doc, 69. 3 3 N. Y. Doc, 436.
2 Q N. Y. Doc, 332.
46 SENECA CAMPAIGN [Chap. IV.
built a fort known as Fort les Sables. Here
they shot a Frenchman named Lafontaine Marion,
(according to La Hontan, — Abel Marion in the
depositions), who was acting as guide to the
Eno-lish company.' La Hontan refers to this with
some indignation as an act of cruelty, the trade
regulations giving no chance to get a living in
the colony, and there being peace with the
English.- After a short but sharp campaign in
the Seneca country, the troops returned to the
fort, and Tonty and Du Luth went homeward
accompanied by Baron La Hontan, who was sent
up to take command at Fort St. Joseph, Du Luth
being needed elsewhere. Tonty left the others at
this fort, and went on with Father Crevier to Mack-
inaw,3 and thence to his own Fort St. Louis.
Here Tonty found the brother of La Salle, Cav-
elier, with the rest of his company on their way
eastward. To him as to others they said La
Salle was living ; and Cavelier committed a gross
fraud on Tonty, by obtaining a considerable ad-
vance on his brother's credit.
On the way up from Niagara, and near Buffalo,
Tonty and his companions met a brother of Du
Luth, Grisolon de la Tourette, who is said by La
Hontan to have come down from Mackinaw to
join the army, having but one canoe i"^ and the
Baron speaks of his rashness in running such a
fisk when the Iroquois were hostile. This gentle-
1 3 N. Y. Doc, 430, 436. 3 La Hontan, 126, 134 i La. Dog , 70
2 I La Hontan, 117. 4 La Hontan, 128
Chap. IV.] GRISOLON DE LA TOURETTE. 47
man's name is not generally found in the histories.
Great confusion has arisen from the fact that some
times the family name is used, and sometimes
other titles, and they are occasionally reversed
so that the family name is made to represent the
estate. Du Luth's family name was Grisolon, and
La Hontan speaks of him as a gendeman from
Lyons. He was a cousin of Tonty, who as already
mentioned was of Italian extraction. Charlevoix
mentions as connected with La Foret and Tonty,
and as having been long and honorably employed
in the Illinois country, and as having great intiu-
ence over the Indians, the Sieur Delietto, who is
said to have been a cousin of Tonty.' This men-
tion is late in the seventeenth centur)-, and was
near its close. The similarity of name to Du
Luth and the same relationship to Tontv, <^ive
rise to a query whether there may not have been
some confusion between the Grisolons, and whether
this name may not belong to one of them. The
only other reference in Charlevoix to any Delietto
is found in the statement of the valuable services
rendered by a post commander of that name sev-
eral years after, in obtaining from the Head Chief
of the Natchez the surrender of a brother who
had been very troublesome to the French.-^ This
officer died in 1722, a long time after Daniel
Grisolon du Luth, whose death occurred in 1 709.-^
I 2 Charlevoix H., 265. 2 2 Charlevoix II., 460.
3 Parkman's Discovery of the Cxreat West, 254, note.
A name which belongs to one of these persons is given variously as
Deliatto, Deslietten and Deliette. The name DeSiette in the Wisconsin
collection is evidently a misprint of DeLiette.— 3 Wis. His, Soc\v Col , 148.
48 TERRITORIAL DISPUTES. [Chap. IV.
It is much to be regretted that any of those brave
men should drop out of history. Their services
were brilhant, and their personal merits were such
as in most countries would have marked them
among the paladins.
This assertion of dominion over the Strait by
the French had important results. An acrimoni-
ous correspondence followed between the Canadian
and New York Governors,' and Governor r3ongan
and the Iroquois had various discussions as to
which of them should pull the chestnuts out of the
fire, each being anxious that the other should dis-
lodge the French. The Iroquois urged strenuously
that the Governor should remove the French from
Niagara, Cataraqui, and Tyschsarondia, " which is
the place where wee goe a bever huntinge, for if
those forts continue in French hands wee are
always besieged."'
The French Governor refused to release
McGregory and his associates until finally ordered
to do so by the home authorities, in October,
1687. It became evident that sooner or later
there would be a struggle for the country, unless
precluded by secure possession.
Up to this time no fort or post in Michigan
had any French farming population about it.
Mackinaw was the great centre, but here the
coureurs de bois. who frequented and garrisoned
the post, had their own stronghold and stores on
I 3 N. Y. Doc, 436, 532, 536, 905, 906. 2 3 N. Y. Doc, 536
Cha*. IV.] FORT ST. JOSEPH BURNED. 49
the Island, which was uncultivated/ After that
post was founded, the Hurons and Ottawas settled
near it, and contrary to the modern theories of
our Indian hating statesmen, the civilized men de-
pended for their supplies on the barbarians. The
Ottawas both at Mackinaw and Detroit, as late as
Pontiac's time, paid some attendon to agriculture.
The Hurons raised much more than they needed
for themselves, and supplied their neighbors ;
and Charlevoix gives them credit not only for
being diligent farmers, but for the civilized quality
of knowing how to get a fair price for their
surplus stores." Baron La Hontan was obliged
to go to Mackinaw in the spring of 1688, to
purchase provisions for his fort from the Indians
there.^
It was soon discovered that Fort St. Joseph
might be dispensed with, and it was burned by
La Hontan in 1688.'^ The Fort at Detroit, which
was afterwards put on the foodng of a settle-
ment, continued as a military post until 1701.
References are made to the policy of continuing
it in 1689 ^^^ 1 69 1 ; and in 1700 M. de Longueuil
was in command, and held an important council
with the Indians.^ It was probably nothing more
than a block-house, and may have been at times
unoccupied.
1 La Hontan, 144-5. Charlevoix, Letter 19.
2 Letter 17. 4 La Hontan, 171.
3 La Hontan, 139. 59 N. Y. Doc, 399, 511, 647, 704, 713.
50 LA MOTTE CADILLAC. [Chap, IV.
In 1692 La Motte Cadillac, who had become
a man of note among- the colonists, and who had
devised intelligent plans for commanding the
country by fleets as well as forts, was sent to
France to o-'we his views to the Kingf and his
ministers.' On his return he assumed an import-
ant place in the management of western affairs.
In his memoir on Iroquois affairs, in 1694,^ he
vindicated the coiu^eiu^s de bois, and was severe
on their maligners, whom he charged with giving
false statements of fact concerning Mackinaw and
other matters. He was very influential among
the Indians, and in 1695 especial mention is made
of his good qualities, and of his shrewdness in
Indian affairs. Frontenac, who at this period was
Governor, and who had returned in that capacity
in 1689, ^^'^ i^"^ sympathy with him. But at this
time the war against the traders was very
warmly pushed by the missionaries, and they
procured an order from France to have the
military post of Mackinaw^ and all others but
Fort St. Louis abandoned. Frontenac, however,
prevented this, but the trade in furs was more
rigidly confined to licensed traders, and the
Canada Company. Twenty-five licenses were
granted yearly, mostly to widows and orphans
of deserving persons, who sold them to traders. ^
These allowed eoods of a certain amount and
value to be carried into the Indian country, and
1 9 N. Y. Doc, 530, 543, 546, 549. 3 Charlevoix, Letter 4.
2 Id., 577.
Chap. IV. | PLANS FOR HOLDING DETROIT. 51
bartered or sold 'to die Indians ; and the profits
were very great. Special permissions were given
to post commanders and others, and the licenses
were extended liberallv so as to ^ive the owner
opportunities for extensive traffic. The war with
England (declared in the spring of 1689, ^^^^
not ended until the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697,)
suspended the operations of the English in the
Northwest, and confined the more severe hostilities
to the regions further east.
As soon, however, as the peace was declared,
under the pretext that the Western Lake Coun-
try was not really French territory, the New York
authorities began to lay plans for getting into
possession. In 1699, Robert Livingston laid
before Lord Bellomont a project for taking pos-
session of Detroit. He proposed sending 200
Christians, and 300 or 400 Indians of the Five
Nations, '^o make a fort at a place called
Wawijacktenok [ Waweatanong. the name of Detroit
in the Chippewa tongue,] where a party of
Christians are to be left, being a place plenty
of provisions, many wild beasts using there," etc.
He remarks on the disposition of the French to
claim everything.'
In the same year La Motte Cadillac first
proposed to the French Government to make a
settlement for habitation at the same place.-
He did not immediately succeed.
1 4 N. Y. Doc, 501.
2 Conversation with Count Pontcliartrain. — Sheldon, 143.
52 ■ DETROIT TO BE SECURED. [Chap. IV.
In 1 700 Livingston renewed his project more
earnestly. He declares that we " can never ran-
counter the French unless we have bushlopers as
well as they." He then points out the course to
be pursued. " To build a fort at Wawyachtenok,
cal'd by the French De Troett, the most pleasant
and plentiful inland place in America by all rela-
tion, where there is arable land for thousands of
people, the only place of bever hunting for which
our Indians have fougrht so lono- and at last forced
o o
the nations to fly. Here you have millions of
elks, bevers, swans, geese, and all sorts of fowl.
The fort to be between Sweege Lake and Otta-
wawa' Lake, , which place lyeth by computation
southwest from Albany seven hundred and forty-
four miles, viz : From Albany to Terindequat at
the Lake of Cadaraqui four hundred miles, from
thence to Onyagara where the great fall is
eighty miles, from thence to the beginning of
Sweege Lake forty miles, and from the Sweege
Lake to the place called Sweege, being a creek
which comes into Sweege Lake, sixty-four miles,
and from thence to Wawyachtenok one hundred
and sixty miles," etc.^
La Motte Cadillac, finding his scheme likely to
fail, went to France and laid his plans before
Count Pontchartrain.- His conversation was re-
duced to writing, and copied, with other documents,
for General Cass, from the French archives. The
» Huron. » 4 N. Y. Doc, 650.
Chap. IV.] CADILLAC'S PLANS.
53
interesting work of Mrs. Sheldon on the Early
History of Michigan copies it at length.'
His object was, In the first place to make it a
permanent post, not subject to frequent changes;
— (the official documents show that previous posts
on the Strait had been subject to these mutations.)
To secure permanence it was necessar}^ to have
numerous Frenchmen, both traders and soldiers,
and to induce the friendly Indians to gather
around it, and so become able to meet the Iro-
quois with less difficulty. He pointed out the fact
that as this was the only way to the fur country,
it would intercept the English trade, and by pla-
cing the post at Detroit it would open a trade
further to the southwest than could be reached
from above.
The Minister at the close informed him that he
should have 200 men of different trades, and six
companies of soldiers. The common accounts say
that with his commission as commandant, which he
received directly from the Crown, and not from
the Governor, he obtained a grant of fifteen acres
square, at whatever point the new fort should be
located. This grant has not yet been printed. It
is certain that he had a much laro-er o^rant at
some time, but this may have been the first.
La Motte Cadillac reached Quebec, on his re-
turn from France, on the 8th of March, 1701. He
left for his new post on the 5th of June, with 50
I p. 8!;.
54 PORT PONTCHARTRAIN. [Chap. IV.
soldiers and 50 artisans and tradesmen, the younger
Tonty accompanying him as captain, and Dugue
and Chacornacle as heutenants. A Jesuit missi-
onary to the Indians and a Recollet chaplain for
the French were also in the company. They
reached Detroit on the 24th of July, 1701.
The fort which was then commenced was called
F^ort Pontchartrain, after the friendly minister who
had favored it, and bore that name until changed
after the British conquest.
This was the beginning of the settlement of
Michigan, for purposes of habitation and civil
institutions.
CHAPTER V.
DETROIT UNDER LA MOTTE CADILLAC.
About the time of La Motte Cadillac's return,
and when Callieres, the Governor General, was
expecting to carry out his instructions concerning
the founding of Detroit, he held a council at
Montreal with a deputation of Iroquois for the
peaceful settlement of some complaints, and they
departed in good humor. But in June, the Chief
Sachem of the Onondagas, Tcganissorens. returned
with other chiefs, and complained that it was
unfair to build a fort at Tuighsaghroiidy before
he acquainted them therewith.'
It appeared from the Chiefs statements, that
the English had been negotiating with the Iroquois
for the purpose of building a fort in the same
place, but the Chief claimed the Indians had
objected and refused consent. The Governor had
in some way been informed of the designs of the
English, which Avere set forth in Livingston's
manifesto, and it may have hastened the French
action. La Motte Cadillac had seen the necessity
of promptness. Callieres answered by com-
I 4 N. y. Doc, 891.
56 IROQUOIS CESSION. [Chap. V.
mending their refusal to the English to allow
them to usurp a country which was not theirs,
but said he was master of his own country,
although he only desired to use his rights for the
benefit of his children ; and while ill-disposed
persons might object, the Indians would one day
thank him for what he had done. Teo^anissorens
made no direct reply to this, but said the English
would find it out, and he hoped, in case of war
between French and English, their tribes might
not be embroiled. Callieres replied that he did
not expect the English to do anything but oppose
it, and all he asked of the tribes was neutrality.
This the Chief agreed to.'
In July, and before La Motte Cadillac's arrival,
the Iroquois held a conference with the New York
authorities, in which they said they would be glad
to remove the end of the chain of friendship to
Tiochsaghrondie or Wawyachtenok, if in their
power, but the French would mock at it, for these
had taken it in possession against their wills ; and
that they had no power to resist such a Christian
enemy.""
On the 19th of July, 1701, the Iroquois con-
veyed to King William III. all their claims to lands
in the west, and described the country granted as
covering " that vast tract of land or colony called
Canagarlarchio, beginning on the northwest side of
Cadarachqui Lake,^ and includes all that vast tract
I I Charlevoix, 270. 3 Ontario.
3 4 N. Y. Doc, 905-6.
CHAr. v.] IROQUOIS CLAIMS. 57
of land lying between the great Lake of Ottawawa'
and the lake called by the natives Sahlquage, and
by the Christians the Lake of Sweege, and runns
till it butts upon the Twichtwichs, and is bounded
on the westward by the Twichtwichs by a place
called Ouadoge, containing In length about 800
miles and in breadth 400 miles, including the
country where beavers and all sorts of wild game
keeps, and the place called Tjeughsaghrondie alias
Fort De Tret or Wawyachtenock, and so runns
round the Lake of Sweege till you come to a place
called Oniadarundaquat," etc.^
Reference is made to " a place called Tjeuch-
saghronde, the principall pass that commands said
land." And this word is also used as one of the
boundaries in another description of the country.
These names of the three great lakes are not
often found on maps, but in the Iroquois negoti-
ations no others are used. Some French maps
call Lake Erie Oswego, and it is called Ochswego
in the New York documents.^
The Iroquois claimed seriously the right to
Upper Canada, but do not seem to have had ter-
ritorial claims in Michigan. The complaint in
McGregory's case was that they and the English
had a rieht to trade with the Indians inhabitinor
this region — chiefly Hurons and Ottawas, — not
that the country belonged to the Iroquois. Their
objection to the forts on Lake Ontario, Niagara
1 Huron. 3 5 N. Y. Doc, 694.
2 4 N. Y. Doc, 908 and seq.
58 WATER HIGHWAYS. [Chap. V.
and Detroit, was that these commanded their beaver
country, by covering the passes by which alone it
was reached.
It is within the recollection of many persons
now living, that no carrying of goods to any large
amount was possible except by water. The furs
were all taken back and forth in canoes, until in
very recent times bateaux and Mackinaw boats
were substituted. The journey to Montreal and
Quebec from Michigan was commonly made
through Lake Huron, Georgian Ba)' and the
Ottawa River, or occasionally through other streams
leadine to Lake Ontario from the north. The
way through Lake Erie and round Niagara Falls
was the most direct way to New York, and was
the only convenient path for the Iroquois ; and
the Strait was the key to the whole, as at Detroit
it was but about half a mile wide, with a view ol
some two miles above, and the same distance
below, entirely unobstructed by islands or marshes.
In a memoir concernino^ the Indians made in
1718, and found in the Department of the Marine,
is a full description of the Strait and its islands.
It is there stated that it was a lono- time doubtful
whether Detroit should not be founded at Grosse
He.' The cause of the hesitation was the appre-
hension that the timber might some day fail.
During the present century that island has been
remarkable for the extent and beauty of its forest
timber, but most of it was second growth, and
1 9 N. Y. Doc, S86.
Chap. V.] CADILLAC BUILDS HIS FORT. 59
probably in the beginning of the last century the
land may not have been densely wooded. The
same memoir speaks with surprise of the multitude
and size of the apples. These were probably
crab-apples which were abundant, and existed in
different varieties. The translator must have been
in error in making them as large as pippins.
The term used in the original would seem to be
pommcs d'api, or lady-apples, which do not always
exceed in size large crab-apples.
Bois-blanc Island, near the Canadian shore at
Maiden, was in after times regarded as a more
important point, as it commanded the deepest
channel and an unobstructed view of all the lake
entrance south and eastward, whereas near,Grosse
He the channel is broken by small islands. The
Island of Bois-blanc, formerly beautifully wooded,
was completely denuded of trees for purposes of
military observation, during the so-called Patriot
War of 1838.
Immediately on his arrival La Motte Cadillac
enclosed his proposed fort by a stockade of a
few acres, probably not over three or four, and
perhaps less. It stood on what was formerly
called the first terrace, being on the ground lying
between Larned street and the river, and between
Grlswold and Wayne streets. The ground was
higher further back from the water, and the bank
westward was also higher. But the point selected
was opposite the narrowest part of the river or
strait, and hicrh enoucrh to command everythinor
60 THE OLD TOWN OF DETROIT. [Chav. V,
within range. The fort proper, without the bas-
tions, was one arpent square, and stood at the
edge of the slope. If, as is probable, the plan
of the settlement within the stockade was the same
as subsequently, there is little difficulty in finding
out its general appearance. There was a road
running about the enclosure within the defences
called the Chemin du Rondc, which appears from
descriptions in conveyances to have been twelve
feet wide. The other streets could not have been
wider, and some, mentioned as little streets, were
probably very narrow. In 1778, there were one
twenty foot street and six fifteen foot streets ; but
these were laid out later. The older streets in
Quebec may have resembled them. The lots
did not exceed twenty-five feet by thirty or forty,
and were often smaller. M. De Bellestre, the
last Commander under the French, purchased two
lots together, not very long before the surrender,
which were apparently very eligible property, the
combined size of which was thirty feet by fifty-four,
and this property extended from street to street.
On the river side of the fort, the ground de-
scended quite sharply, leaving a small space of
level ground near the water about forty feet wide,
which was in process of time divided into lots.
The domain outside of the fort, being somewhat
more than half a mile in width, was used partly
by La Motte Cadillac for his own purposes, and
partly rented in parcels of a fourth of an arpent
in width by five arpents in depth. A part was
Chap. V.] OMISSIONS OF EARLY WRITERS. 61
at one time occupied by an Indian village. After
the domain was revested in the Crown, it was
used for a common, and other purposes of con-
venience. But for a few years after the settle-
ment, the cultivated grounds of the French were
all within the domain, and within a hundred rods
of the fort.
The writers who describe this region in early
times were very deficient in that habit of minute
description which is so valuable afterwards in
forming an idea of the domestic ways of the
people. There is nothing to indicate whether
there were cattle or draft animals of any kind.
As all the expeditions from the east were by
water, neither horses nor cattle could have been
brought from that quarter, as after the loss of the
Griffin there were no large boats used for a long
time. There is, however, in a spiteful report of
M. Aigremont, made in 1708, a passage bearing
on this subject. • He says '' La Motte required of
a blacksmith named Parent, for permission to work
at his trade, the sum of six hundred francs and
two hoesheads of ale, and the oblio^ation to shoe
all the horses of M. La Motte, whatever number
he may have, though at present he keeps but
one."' It is probable the horses found in this
region at that dme came from the southwest, and
were a distinct breed from those afterwards in-
troduced from below.
I Sheldon, 281.
62 HOUSES AT DETROIT. [Chap. V.
Aigremont speaks also somewhat contemptu-
ously of the small thatched log houses of the settlers
within the walls ; and it has been hastily assumed
that this was the character of all the buildings.
But there is evidence to the contrary, and it is
apparent that there were competent mechanics and
a demand for them. La Motte Cadillac, in 1 703,
had already under orders from Quebec, built a
house of oak for the Huron Chief, forty feet wide
by twenty-four feet deep/ on an eminence by the
river overlooking the Huron village, because he
desired to live like a Frenchman. This was cer-
tainly a spacious and respectable building ; and
from the landmarks may have occupied the
beautiful spot formerly the homestead of General
Cass, before the high and shaded terrace was cut
down and graded. It is not likely the proud
commander would have allowed the chief to
possess a finer house than his own. It is supposed
and said to be known that La Motte's own house
occupied the same foundation that, after the great
fire of 1805, was rebuilt upon by Joseph Campau,
still remaininpf as one of the oldest landmarks
within the present city limits of Detroit. Mention
has before been made of the carved work of the
early artisans. The same company that built the
Griffin erected at the St. Joseph's River a building
so large as to demand considerable skill. The
edifices afterwards erected within Port Pont-
chartrain, when there is no reason to suppose
I Sheldon, iii.
Chap, v.] INDIANS AT DETROIT. 63
materials or labor were more abundant, were
beyond doubt well made and expensive. The
purchase before referred to by M. Bellestre, was
made in 1760 of one V'ernet, who was a cutler
as well as smith, and it was certified by Bellestre
to have cost him 1 2,000 livres/ This if counted
as /k'rcs pari sis would have been 3,000 dollars,
and if livrcs toitrnois 2,500 dollars, a very con-
siderable sum in those days. The instrument of
purchase included not only the lots and buildings
referred to, but Vernet's stock in trade, and his
bill for building Bellestre's own dwelling; and the
whole consideration was 30,000 livres, or from
6,000 to 7,500 dollars, equivalent to more than
double that sum now, and with the low prices of
labor in those days probably going much further.^
La Motte's first care was to gather the Indians
about him and retain them near his fort. In this
he was very successful, very much to the wrath
of the Fathers at Mackinaw, as the Hurons and
most of the other Indians at that post emigrated
to Detroit. La Motte, who had a standing feud
with the Jesuits, for what he claimed to be un-
authorized interference with his interests and with
the royal wishes, wrote exultingh- and a little mal-
1 County Records, B., 128 and seij.
2 All houses were probably made of limber until long after the laying
out of the new town, except two or three of brick or stone, and some barrack-
like buildings of rough cast. Timber was cheap, round or hewed, and made
warm and durable houses ; and until saw-mills were introduced, and boards
and shingles readily obtainable, log or block houses roofed with thatch were
very common in this region, and are not unknown now.
64 INDIAN POLICY. [Cmaf. V.
iciously to Count Pontchartrain, in August, 1703,
giving an account of the actual and promised ac-
cessions to his settlement, in which he says :
*' Thirty Hurons of Michilimackinac arrived here
on the 28th of June, to unite themselves with those
already established here. There remain only about
twenty -five at Michilimackinac. Father Carheil,
who is missionary there, remains always firm. I
hope, this fall, to pluck out the last feather of his
wing, and I am persuaded that this obstinate old
priest will die in his parish, without having a single
parishioner to bury him."
Father Carheil was a devoted and good man,
and his zeal for the preservation of the Indians
from demoralizing influences was commendable,
and in some degree efficacious.
It has not, however, been sufficiently noticed
that La Motte's deserved reputation, (which in spite
of his impetuosity always in the long run secured
him the confidence of the King and his ministers,
as well as of the Indians,) rested largely on his
freedom from the reckless disregard shown by some
persons for the welfare of the Indians. In a letter
written while at Mackinaw, in 1695, in which he
criticised a very excellent and wise prohibition of
the sale of brandy, there are expressions which
might seem to indicate that he cared very little
about them or their fate. (He mentions — by the
way — a very remarkable fact, if it be true, that
the Sioux would not touch brandy and greatly
disliked it.) When he had the responsibility of his
Chap. V] TEMPERANCE REGULATIONS.
65
own settlement upon his hands he manifested a
spirit very rare In those days, and which in turn
subjected him to the same criticism which he had
indulged in towards the government. M. Aigre-
mont, who lost no chance of fault-finding, charges
La Motte with endeavoring to prevent disturbances
from the excessive use of brandy, by putting it
all in one storehouse and selling it at an exor-
bitant rate, allowing no one to drink except at
the depot, and allowing no one to have more than
one drink of the twenty - fourth part of a quart.
M. Aigremont complains not only that no one could
get drunk on such a quantity, but that, as each
had to take his turn, sometimes the Indians had
to go home without getting even a taste. La Motte
was, in this, wise beyond his generation. It is
worthy of remark that the traders of Detroit in
1775 resorted to a ver}' similar expedient, to pre-
vent drunkenness and keep spirits away from the
Indians.'
It appears that in the first instance the pro-
prietary rights of La Motte Cadillac were not very
extensive. The commission given him in 1 700
has not been printed. But there was evidently
some right of trading, though not in such furs as
were within the monopoly. His powers as a mil-
itary commander over all in the post seem, from
incidental references, to have been plenary and
exclusive.
I Record A., 337.
5
66 CADILLAC INTERFERED WITH. [Chap. V.
The Canada Company procured, before the
first year was over, from the Governor and
Intendant, authority to assume exclusive charge of
the fur and peltry traffic. How far this was
authorized by the King is not evident. But within
the next two or three years new arrangements
were made to which Cadillac was a party, which
gave him a certain oversight in the business,
though not any control over its details, w^hich
were in charge of agents.
The Commandant had constant difficulties with
these men, and was annoyed by very active
enemies. The purpose of his settlement was to
found a town of French artisans and other civilians,
and to make it a nucleus for a large Indian
population. He had been promised that the roving
traders should not be allowed to interfere with it.
But he found active opposition from the mission-
aries and others at Mackinaw, (who were jealous
of the rival post which had enticed away all their
Indians,) and from the traders who had dealt with
the tribes at the north. There were also com-
plaints made to the King from the high officials,
for which it is hard to find any honest explana-
tion. They represented the fort as useless, and
offensive to the Iroquois, and the place as not
eligible for agriculture. Soldiers were denied him,
and his petitions to allow settlers to come in and
establish themselves were disregarded.
The new war with the English, which broke
out soon after Detroit was founded, made their
Chap. V.] CADILLAC EXONERATED. 67
emissaries active ; and attacks were made, some
openly and some stealthily, upon the fort, which
met with some calamities.' In the latter part of
1703, and beginning of 1704, Cadillac detected
the Company agents and some accomplices in
very bold and important speculation and frauds,
and put them in arrest. They had relatives in
high positions; and in the autumn of 1704, La
Motte was ordered to Quebec for trial on charges
of tyrannical conduct. During his absence, which
was protracted, much was done to destroy his
plans, and the officer in charge provoked a war
with some of the neighboring Indians, which was
unfortunate in bringing much trouble on the post.
La Motte was acquitted, but, disgusted with his
treatment, he appealed his grievances to Count
Pontchartrain, who came over to Quebec, and gave
him a patient hearing, and dismissed him with
commendation.
One of the most audacious wrongs done him
received a very severe rebuke. The King him-
self, in 1 703, wrote to Callieres and Beauharnois,
(Governor and Intendant,) directing them, in view
of the conflicting representations made to him
about Detroit, to call an assembly of the most
reputable officers and inhabitants of Canada to
I In 1703, the Indians near Detroit were induced to visit Albany, and
for a time were more or less under English influence. After their return to
Detroit they attempted to burn the fort, but were repulsed, after they had
done some mischief. The Ottawas soon after made a demonstration in which
they received punishment. In 1706, while Cadillac was in Quebec, another
attack was made while M. de Bourgmont was in charge, killing a missionary.
Father Constantine, and a soldier.
6«
CADILLAC'S ENEMIES. [Chap. V
meet Cadillac, and consider all the reasons for
and against it, and when agreed to have him, as
well as themselves, sign a proper memorial for
the royal guidance.' This meeting they called, but
did not notify Cadillac until several months after
it had been held. The report was made without
information from the person most relied on to
give it. The Minister was very indignant at this
treachery, and expressed himself plainly.^ In 1 706,
Pontchartrain wrote to Vaudreuil that his conduct
in favoring Arnaud, who was one of the persons
arrested by Cadillac, was so censurable that,
unless he showed more respect to the King's
orders, he would lose his office.^ La Motte re-
turned to his post in 1706. It appears that he
was thereafter left in sole control of the fort, and,
although annoyed more or less by new hindrances,
was maintained honorably until his removal to
Louisiana. In 1708, M. Aigremont was sent out
by the King to report upon this among other
posts ; but on the way he evidently fell into the
hands of La Motte's enemies, and his report was
a labored argument for the suppression of the
fort and settlement altogether, in favor of
Mackinaw. It was too strongly drawn to conceal
the spirit of the writer, and, while some of his
recommendations were approved, he was not left
without censure.'^ He had further correspondence
with the Marine Department, in which he lost no
1 9 N. Y. Doc, 742. 3 9 N. Y. Doc, 777.
2 Sheldon H., p. 154. 9 N, Y. Doc, 777. 4 9 N. Y. Doc, 827.
Chap. V.] D'AIGREMONT'S VIEWS. 69
Opportunity of assailing La Motte and his post.
His last attempt appears in a letter to Count
Pontchartrain, in November, 1710, in which he not
only advocates making Mackinaw the controlling
post of the country, but recommends doing so by
the pernicious system of conges, or licenses to
trade in the Indian country. " To render these
licenses valuable" — he remarks — "a large num-
ber of canoes ought to be prevented going up to
Detroit: for being unable to trade off within its
limits the great quantity of goods with which
they would be loaded, in the time ordinarily em-
ployed in bartering, those who would find their
stock too large would not fail to go further off to
sell them. Finally, my Lord, the value of these
licenses will depend on the proportion of the
number of canoes which will go up to Detroit,
which ought to be fixed at 8 or 10 at the most."'
The history of the colony shows that it was but
rarely that any one in power favored the exten-
sion of French settlements ; and the opposition to
these derived its strength from two controlling
elements — the missionaries and the fur traders —
which happened to work together, though from
different motives. Beauharnois and De la Gal-
issonniere were the most favorable of all the later
Governors to colonization, and both took active
measures to forward it. But the census returns
show a lamentable lack of people. In 1719, there
were but 22,530 in all Canada; in 1720, 24.434;
I 9 N. Y. Doc, 852.
70 CADILLAC OBTAINS A SEIGNEURIE. [Chap. V.
in 1721, 24,511; In 1734, 30,516. Cadillac was a
strenuous advocate of the policy of enlarging the
actual settlements for farming purposes, and of
civilizing the Indians by education and discipline
in contact with the French. And as Detroit stood
alone to represent this policy, it is not strange
that many misrepresentations were made in regard
to it. But the best evidence of the Commander's
fidelity is found in the unshaken confidence of the
Home Government, which is found very frequently
suggesting to the Governor and Intendant the
duty of letting him alone, and of respecting his
rights.'
Up to his interview with Count Pontchartrain,
in Quebec, La Motte's powers had been so ham-
pered that the post did not make much progress,
although remarkably successful in gathering in the
Indians. But his requests to be allowed to en-
courage settlements were passed by, or at all
events not much favored. The Minister's eyes
seem to have become opened to the state of affairs,
and in 1705 and 1706 he was put in complete
and sole control of the post, and granted a manor
or seigneurie, the precise limits of which it is now
difficult to ascertain.
His plans, which were not all allowed, were
shadowed forth in his correspondence of 1703.
He then desired leave to encourage the Indians
to live in houses and learn French customs, and
to organize companies of Indians drilled as soldiers.
» 9 N. Y. Doc, 777, 805.
Cmap v.] schemes for IMPROVEMENT. 71
He further desired to establish a seminary for
the common instruction of French and Indian
children, and offered to bear the expense himself
or provide means without charge to the Crown.
He urged that the place should be allowed to
become a substantial settlement ; that lands should
be granted to soldiers and settlers, and that settlers
should be allowed to erect dwellings. He desired
leave to send out men to explore for minerals ;
and offered, if granted a seigneurie on the Maumee,
to establish the raising of silk-worms and silk-"
making, the country being full of mulberry trees
and adapted to that industry. He showed that
the people had already raised a surplus of supplies.
Tnis was during the time when he complained,
with justice, that his plans had been interfered
with under such powers as he actually possessed.'
When he was relieved from the obstruction of
others at Detroit, he was not allowed all the
privileges he desired, but was, nevertheless, in a
better condition, although exposed to interference
from below. He at once began to provide for
the increase of the settlement. He made two
grants of land, within the present limits of Detroit,
(though not included until within a few years,)
and as the first land grants in Michigan, and the
only manorial grants ever recognized as valid in
the State, they deserve mention. The only other
manor granted in Michigan was conceded to the
Chevalier de Repentigny, about half a century
» Letter of 1703, Sheldon's H., 107.
72 FEUDAL GRANTS. [Chap. V.
thereafter, and lost to his heirs as escheated, under
a decision of the United States Supreme Court.
Whether La Motte Cadillac made further grants
is not known. In the interval between the date
of these and his departure for Louisiana, he was
constantly harassed by the colonial authorities,
and may not have found occasion to extend his
tenancies.
A somewhat imperfect translation of one ot
these concessions is found in the Land Records
of Michigan.' It is dated March lo, 1707, and
made to Frangois Fafard, dit Delorme. The land
was two arpents (or about 400 feet) in width by
twenty in depth.^
The grantee had the privilege of trading, fish-
ing and hunting, except as to hares, rabbits, part-
ridges and pheasants. He was to pay annually
at the castle and principal manor, on the 20th of
March, five livres for seigneurial dues, and ten
livres for other privileges, payable in peltries until
a currency was established in the colony, and
thereafter in money. (The livres mentioned in
these and in legal documents generally were livres
parisis of 25 sols each, or a franc and a quarter.)
The ten livres annually appear from subsequent
provisions, and from other documents, to have
been for the right to trade, and to have been
1 Am. State Papers, i Public Lands, 250.
2 In the early surveys, eighty arpents were made to measure three miles,
which gave 198 American feet to the arpent. The precise measure would
have been a little less.
Chap. V.] FEUDAL CONDITIONS.
73
personal and not divisible among sub-grantees.
The other conditions were that he should com-
mence improving within three months ; that he
should plant or help plant a long maypole an-
nually before the door of the principal manor,
and grind his grain at the moulin baital or public
mill, giving toll at eight pounds for each minot\
that he should not sell or hypothecate his land
without consent, and that it should be subject to
the grantor's pre-emption in case of sale, as well
as to the dues of alienation, and subject to the
use of timber for vessels and fortifications. The
grantee could not work as blacksmith, armorer,
cutler or brewer, without a special permit. (This
was evidently to prevent unauthorized dealing
with the Indians in weapons or ale.) He was
given full liberty of trading and importing goods,
but allowed to employ no clerks or agents who
were not domiciliated at Detroit. The sale of
brandy to the Indians was prohibited on pain of
forfeiture of the liquor in his possession and con-
fiscation of his land. On a sale of a part of the
land, the annual dues were proportioned, except
the ten livres for trading, which every individual
was to pay in full for the privilege.
This grant did not require the grantee (as
was afterwards required) to dwell upon his con-
cession. It appears that for many years the
settlers all dwelt within the gates of the town, or
immediately without.'
I La ForSt's memoir, 9 N. Y. Doc, 867.
74 MILLS. fCMAP. V.
When he returned from the east, or very soon
thereafter, La Motte brought two canoe-loads,' or
eight tons, of French wheat, and also a variety of
other grain for seed. Up to that time the only
orrain used was Indian corn, and the Hurons and
Ottawas, who were expert farmers, raised it in
great abundance, with beans, pumpkins and
squashes. He also brought machinery for a large
mill. Whether this was a wind or water-mill is
not stated. It has been assumed that it was a
wind-mill. This is probably an error. There was
formerly a water-mill on the Savoyard River,
which was within the domain and ran between
the town and the later fort, which was built on
the second terrace. Other water-mills existed
within short distances of the fort, and the wind-
mills which were quite numerous were too small
to serve the ends of a moulin banal. The only
reason for supposing this to have been a wind-
mill was ignorance of the fact that there were
streams used for water-mills. Those streams have
now disappeared, but this has happened within
living memory. It appears from the settlement of
La Motte's proprietary rights in 1722, that he had
been liberal in allowing trading licenses, for which
the charge was put uniformly at ten livres, when
the monopoly was really his own, and under the
I Two canoe-loads was the amount of goods originally allowed by
each cong6 or trading license, and the canoes used in the long traverses
were larger than the modern ones, being five and a half fathoms long by
one fathom wide. The upper lake bark canoes that visited Detroit
would sometimes contain twenty or thirty persons.
Chap. V.] REPORT OF D'AIGREMONT. ' 75
narrow policy introduced by one of his successors
was resumed, and all trading right taken away
from the people, except in their farm products/
There is abundant evidence that the settlement
prospered under Cadillac's liberal management.
M. de Clerambaut d'Aigremont, a deputy of the
Intendant, was ordered, in June, 1707, by the
King, to visit Detroit and report upon its man-
agement and advantages. Reference is made to
his report in a former part of this chapter. His
'commission states the mutual recriminations of
Cadillac and Vaudreuil and Raudot, the Governor
and Intendant." On the same day Vaudreuil re-
ceived strict orders not to interfere with Detroit.
D'Aigremont's instructions were apparently meant
to be somewhat confidential. It appears from them
incidentally that La Motte desired to obtain leave
from the King to procure some of the ladies of
the hospital at Montreal, who were willing to do
so, to come out and look after the sick, and aid
in teaching various industries; and the delegate
was instructed to help him in this. Whether he
did so does not appear. But D'Aigremont's re-
port, which was made in the interest of La Motte's
enemies, did not affect his credit, beyond raising
some question as to his desire for personal emol-
ument, in which, however, he does not appear to
have been specially noteworthy. With large
landed rights and continued public employment,
he left no such estate as justified such suspicions ;
I 3 Wisconsin Hist. Doc. 167. a 9 N. Y. Doc, 805.
76 CADILLAC'S PLANS FOR THE INDIANS. [Chap. V.
and his measures, as far as they are recorded,
were liberal.
In 1 709, die fort and settlement were left en-
tirely to his care, and to be maintained at his own
expense, as to garrison as well as civil expenses.'
The project of La Motte Cadillac to enrol and
discipline Indians was not authorized. And his
short stay prevented the completion of his plans
to promote their civilization. The great proficiency
of some of these people in agriculture, and their
disposition to emulate the customs of their French
neighbors, give strong evidence against the heart-
less theories which have led to demoralizing and
destroying them. No man understood them better
than Cadillac, and the opposition to his views
came from motives which cannot be approved.
In 1 710, La Motte Cadillac left for Louisiana,
of which he was made Governor.^
1 9 N. Y. Doc, 827. 3 Wis. Col., 167.
2 9 N. Y. Doc, 857.
CHAPTER VI.
THE FRENCH RULE IN MICHIGAN.
It is readily seen that up to the settlement of
Detroit by La Motte Cadillac, there was nothing
out of which any political future could grow.
The posts, although important for military pur-
poses, had no other significance. Except Detroit,
no other establishment in Michigan was allowed
to form a nucleus of setdement. And during La
Motte's residence the hostile position of the Eng-
lish, who employed all possible means to stir up
the Indians against it, made its posidon uneasy
and dangerous. His great personal influence over
the savages prevented fatal mischief, and his small
beginnings were not without some degree of
success.
The Erench system was not designed or cal-
culated to build up self-governing communities,
and theoredcally, and in many cases practically,
there was absolutism. But the Royal prerogadves
were never delegated to the colonial authorises
except in a very qualified way, and although there
were great frauds and abuses, there was on the
whole a respect for law. The Erench colonists
78 LEGAL FORMALITIES. [Chap. VT.
had a good reputation as not usually litigious ;
but they were tenacious of their legal rights as
far as they went. ' The forms of law were kept
up to an extent that would have appeared almost
ludicrous, but for the real service It rendered in
reminding all of the supremacy of justice over
great as well as small. The colonists were in no
sense abject or slavish. Very few people exhib-
ited higher spirit or more personal Independence.
In this they were in no way behind any of the
American settlers.
The powers of La Motte Cadillac, when left
invested with the control of Detroit, could not
have been less than those belonging to the high-
er feudal lordships of France. He asserted
plenary power of justice, uncontradicted, before
he was granted the selgneurle. But It was not
necessary to establish tribunals of any kind, so
long as the settlers were confined to the fort, and
necessarily subject to the commanding officer's
governance. There was usually in every post
which was proprietary, and not purely military,
that indispensable official in a French setdement,
a Public Notary. Every public as well as private
transaction was made in his presence as a solemn
witness and recorder. The French commanders
exploring new regions made public proclamation
with great ceremony, placed tablets or other
memorials on trees or other convenient places, and
caused a proces vei^bal to be drawn up and signed
by all persons of note who were present, and
Chap. VI.J PROCES VERBAUX. 79
attested by a notary. Where such an officer was
not at hand, his place was suppHed by competent
attesting witnesses. La Salle took with him on
his expedition his own notary from Fort Fron-
tenac, to secure the formality of his proclamations.
The French authorities expressed surprise as well
as resentment on discovering that the Iroquois
tore down and carried off their documents of pos-
session, which they had posted on trees in the
woods. When Celoron made his claims on the
Ohio, he buried metallic plates properly described
in his p7^oces verbaux, and they remained until
quite recently unearthed. These documents for
public purposes were very like a modern marine
protest, which is a narrative of the voyage and
incidents which have given occasion for preserving
a record of facts that may become important.
The absence of any evidence that Detroit had
such an officer in La Motte's time, shows that
affairs were rudimentary. His grants, which were
drawn with all the skill and formality which would
result from long use of the Parfait Notaire, bear
no signature but his own, and that of his secretary
Grandmesnil, by whom they were transmitted for
collation to the Royal Notary of Quebec. It is
questionable whether the fort and domain lands
were ever granted, except upon lease, until long
after.
In the absence of full evidence, we can only
conjecture what was the legal condition of affairs
after his departure. There can be no question
80 CADILLAC'S ESTATE. [Chap. VI.
but that he retained important proprietary^ rights
until May 19th, 1722, when his feudal rights were
surrendered or modified ; as the King Immediately
thereafter authorized lands to be granted by the
Governor General and Intendant. The estate
which he intended for his own use was reserved,
whatever it may have been, and his rights admitted
by the Crown. None of his privileges seem to
have been given up except the exclusive right of
trade, which was annexed to the office of the
Commandant, who received it as an equivalent for
his expense In maintaining the post' Letters from
Detroit, after his departure, Indicate that he had
probably farmed out his rights to some one,
supposed to be the younger De Tonty. After his
death his family sold his Detroit estates to one
Bernard Malchen, who never paid but half the
purchase price. His grand-daughter and heiress,
Madame Gregoire, who obtained from Massachu-
setts, in 1782, the remnant of his barony of
Bouaquat and Mont Desert, was foiled In her
attempts to recover the property In Detroit.
Whether it was ever secured by Malchen or his
grantees is not known. That title was probably
not produced before the land Commissioners, as
no grants from Cadillac were established except
those made by him personally.
Upon La Motte's departure, De la Foret was
appointed his successor. This gentleman was a
I Royal Letter to Vaudreuil and Bigot, of June i8, 1722. — 3 IVis. Hisi,
Col., 167.
Chap. VI.] SIEGE OF DETROIT. 81
man of note, having been La Salle's lieutenant
and deputy at Fort Frontenac, and afterwards,
and at this time, interested with the Chevalier
Henry de Tonty in the proprietorship of Fort St.
Louis, where Sieur Desliettes or De Liette was
stationed. La Foret was detained by private affairs
in Quebec until some time in 171 2. The Sieur
Dubuisson was ordered to take temporary com-
mand, and arrived in 1710. He had a very small
force, there being but thirty Frenchmen in the
fort. In May, 171 2, at the instigation of the
Indians in the English interest, a desperate attempt
was made to destroy the fort. Two villages of
Mascoutins and Outagamies had been established
and fortified within pistol-shot of the French fort.
These people determined to annihilate the post,
and two large bands arrived in the early spring
to help them. Dubuisson had timely warning,
and took measures to send word to the western
nations, and to draw within the fort his grain and
supplies, which were stored outside in a store-
house near the church. He then destroyed these
buildings and several houses which would have
endangered the fort if set on tire. He dissembled
with the enemy, knowing that if he was supposed
to have suspected their plans he would be attack-
ed at once. He accordingly gave them to under-
stand he expected an assault from the Miamis,
and was repairing his defences. The savages were
very insolent, and committed depredations on the
property of the French outside of the fort, which
6
82 ARRIVAL OF ALLIES. [Chap. VL
he did not venture to resent. It was necessary
to sow grain and pasture the cattle, and it was an
object to postpone the difficulty. On the 13th of
May, M. De Vincennes arrived with seven or
eight Frenchmen, but no news of the Indian allies.
Suddenly a Huron came into the fort (to their
surprise, as the Huron village had been deserted
by all but seven or eight men) and informed the
French that the Potawatamie war chief and three
others were in the Huron fort and desired to
counsel with them. Vincennes went over to meet
them, and was told that six hundred men would
soon arrive to help the garrison. The commander,
desirous of sparing life if possible, wished to con-
tent himself when his friends should come with
driving away his troublesome neighbors. But the
Hurons would listen to nothing but a war of ex-
termination. Dubuisson at once closed the fort
and prepared for the expected attack, and the
chaplain performed religious services, and got
ready to aid the wounded. At this time Dubuis-
son was informed that many people were in sight.
He says : " I immediately ascended a bastion,
and casting my eyes towards the woods, I saw
the army of the nations of the south issuing from
it. They were the Illinois, the Missouris, the
Osages, and other nations yet more remote.
There were also with them the Ottawa Chief
Saguina, and also the Potawatamies, the Sacs,
and some Menominies. Detroit never saw such
a collection of people. It is surprising how much
Chap. VI. I THE ENEMY DECAMP.
83
all these nations are irritated against the Mascou-
tins and the Outagamies. The army marched in
good order, with as many flags as there were
different nations, and it proceeded directly to the
fort of the Hurons."'
The Hurons said they should not encamp, but
enter the fort and fight for the French. The
war began at once. The enemy were besieged
nineteen days, by a large force of the allies, and
the French fort at the same time was in great
danorer from the burnincr missiles which came in
hundreds and fired the thatched roofs. These
were torn off as fast as possible, and replaced
with bear and deer skins, and two large pirogues
were filled with water, and swabs fixed on long-
poles to put out any fire as it started. There
were times when the hidians within the French
fort became discouraged, but the brave comman-
der cheered them up. The besieged enemy was
cut off from water and food, and lost many killed.
The savage besiegers would not allow them to
capitulate. At midnight of a dark rainy night
they decamped and escaped to Windmill Point, at
the entrance of Lake St. Clair, eight miles dis-
tant, and threw up entrenchments. In the morn-
ing their escape was discovered, and the allies
went in Dursuit. In their eagerness tlie assailants
J. o
did not perceive the defences, and at first lost
many men. They were compelled to fortify, and
begin a new siege. The besiegers were supplied
I Dubuisson's Narrative, p. 9.
84 GREAT SLAUGHTER. [Chap. VI.
abundantly with provisions, and had two cannon.
After four days the besieged surrendered, and all
but the women and children were slain. The
loss of the French and allies was sixty Indians
killed and wounded, and six or seven French
wounded. The enemy lost a thousand.
The results were very beneficial to Detroit.
The Commander received great credit, as did
also Vincennes, who thereby escaped from the
consequences of some previous disobedience of
orders.
De la Foret arrived soon after the siege, and
remained till 171 7, when he was succeeded by
the younger Tonty, who was also an able officer
but avaricious and unscrupulous in trade matters,
having been implicated in the frauds of 1703 and
1 704, and brought into disgrace with the King.'
De la Foret, in 1714, wrote a memorial upon
the subject of maintaining the fort, in which he
urged its importance as necessary for the defence
of the country and the supply of provisions. He
nevertheless desired to have the settlement
stopped, and the whole converted into a military
trading post, giving the commander an exclusive
monopoly, and stopping the sale of trading licen-
ses to the settlers, as originated by La Motte,
which he there asserts is in conflict with the
commandant's rights. In this view he insists the
settlers must leave the fort, and represents that
I 9 N. Y. Doc, 808.
Chap. VI.] CONDITION OF DETROIT. 85
they cannot improve their lands by reason of
exposure to the savages/ He, however, submits
this to His Majesty's pleasure. In any event he
desires to maintain a small' garrison of troops.
In 1 71 6, Vaudreuil made an effort to restore
the brandy trade among the Indians, applying to
the Regent Duke of Orleans, and representing
that it could be done in such a way as to prevent
excesses. In the same letter he urges a renewal
of the sale of licenses for roving traders among
the Indians, which had been so troublesome before.^
Whether from respect to La Motte's rights,
or for some other cause, no change seems to
have been made in the management of affairs at
Detroit. While there are no records of land
sales, it is apparent the inhabitants were increas-
ing ; and they probably held by some tenancy
less than freehold, or were allowed to possess
vacant lands by the Commandant.
The memoir of 1718 on Indian affairs contains
a very complete and graphic description of the
whole Lake Region, and devotes considerable
space to the Indian villages about the fort at
Detroit, and their customs and industries. The
Potawatamies, Hurons and Ottawas are represented
as raising abundant crops of corn, beans, peas,
squashes and melons, and some wheat. The
Hurons are remarked as more sedate than the
rest, and as the bravest and most intelligent of
I 9 N. Y. Doc, 868. a 9 N. Y. Doc, 870.
86 CHARLEVOIX AT DETROIT. [Chap. VI.
all the nations. The timber trees and natural
fruits and nuts of the Detroit region are spoken
of in glowing terms. No reference is made to
the French.
During this period the post at Mackinaw
assumed great importance, but it had no settled
population except in connection with the fur trade.
In 1 721, Charlevoix visited Detroit, and re-
mained several days. He speaks in high terms
of Tonty, who was then in command, and of the
character of the land and its products. During
his visit a council was held with the Indians to
suppress the liquor traffic, and to prepare to
fight the Outagamies, who had not lost their old
hostility. He refers to the attempts which had
been made to depreciate the importance of the
post and shows the falsehood of the statements
concerning the lands. Incidentally it would appear
that there was considerable cultivated land, as
he speaks of the same land bearing wheat for
many years without manuring, as evidence of the
fertility of the soil, and the wheat culture was
mostly in the hands of the French. He refers to
the Hurons as raising provisions for sale in large
quantities, and as sharp traders.
It appears from Dubuisson's report of the
siege, that there were cattle enough to be of im-
portance to the settlement, in 171 2.
In 1720, the English proposed to send horses
to Niagara for transportation, and to make a
Chap. VI.] LAND CONCESSIONS. 87
settlement there/ Pack-horses are not often re-
ferred to by travellers as early as this, and there
is little information about them. In 1719, there
were in all Canada 4,024 horses and 18,241
horned cattle. In 1720, there were 5,270 horses,
and 24,866 horned cattle. Mrs. Grant, of Laes'an,
says that in 1761 there were no horses and onh'
one cow at Oswego.^
In 1722, the rights of La Motte Cadillac hav-
ing been adjusted, the traffic was ordered to be
granted to the Commandant during his tenure of
command and no longer, and he was to claim no
title to the land at the post, and grant no con-
cessions.3 The Governor and Intendant were to
grant these concessions in the name of His
Majesty, with no trade privileges beyond the dis-
posal of farm products. The grants were not to
exceed four arpents wide by forty deep, and to
be made in consecutive order. The Commandant
was required to obtain building concessions as
well as other persons, and to get no other trade
rights beyond his continuance in command. But
he was to have the use without title of ground
for garden and stables.
No attention was paid to this decree by
Vaudreuil, or his successor, the first Longueuil.
And in 1726, Tonty made an exclusive grant of
the right of traffic to four associates. La Marque,
I 9 N. Y. Doc, 1037. 2 Memoirs ot an American Lady.
3 Royal decree. 3 Wis. H. Doc, 167, 168.
88 BEAUHARNOIS AND HOCQUART. [Chap. Vl.
Chiery, Nolan and Gatineau, who at once enforced
their claims without mercy. The inhabitants sent
a vigorous remonstrance against it to the Intend-
ant, signed by the ancestors of several of the
present French families of Detroit, Chesne,
Campau, De Marsac, Bineau, Reaume, Picard,
Roubidou, La Devoute and De Gaudefroy, and
with the marks of others. The company wrote to
the Intendant, urging that the people ought to
devote their time to farming and not to trading ;
but as the Governor and Intendant had granted
no lands, this was not ingenious. Tonty wrote
a very insolent letter calling them gens sans
aveu, or vagrants, and making some excuses
which were evasive and sophistical, but mainly
resting on his rights to do as he pleased.'
What action was taken does not appear ; but
in that same year the Marquis of Beauharnois
became Governor, and in 1728 Hocquart was made
Intendant, and a new era soon opened on the
colony. They were sensible and patriotic, and
understood the value of people, while they were
not tainted with the fraud and greed of some
of their predecessors. Tonty was relieved,
and command given Boishebert, who seems, while
at Detroit and after he left, to have been a true
friend to the inhabitants. In 1728, at some
unknown prompting, the King suggested farming
out the post at Detroit, but the views of Beau-
harnois prevailed and it was not done.""
I 3 Wis. His. Doc, 169 to 178. « 9 N. Y. Doc, 1004.
Chap. VI.] VIEWS OF BEAUHARNOIS. 89
It is not entirely certain whether the earliest
grant of lands by Beauharnois and Hocquart was
in 1730 or 1734. In 1732, Beauharnois, who had
failed in his efforts to have two vessels placed on
Lake Erie,' wrote thus concerning Detroit, to
Count Maurepas :
" Sieur de Boishebert's occupations regarding
the proceedings of the Hurons and Iroquois
against the Foxes, will not have permitted him,
I believe, sending you the draughts he was to
make of Lakes Ste. Claire and Huron. I have not
failed to recommend to that officer, as I had done
to his predecessors, to give all their attention to
the establishment of Detroit, and to the general
welfare of that post. But although they do not
appear to me to be wanting in attention in these
two particulars, it is impossible for that establish-
ment to become considerable, so long as a suffi-
cient number of troops are not sent thither, to
whom lands would be granted for the purpose of
improvement, by which course farmers would
eventually be introduced. If, on the other hand,
it be His Majesty's intention to send thither a
hundred faussonniers^ with their families, to whom
some advances would be made in the first in-
stance, this post would become considerable in a
short time, and by its strength keep all the na-
tions of the Upper Country in check. But as
these projects can not be executed until approved
by His Majesty, I shall continue to recommend
» 9 N. Y. Doc, 1014. 2 Faux-saulniers, or salt-smugglers.
90 CAMPAU'S MILL. [Chap. VL
the officers in command of that post to induce as
much as possible the setders to cultivate the soil,
and to maintain good order there. This, my
Lord, is all that their diligence can accomplish.'"
This would indicate that no new grants had
then been made. And in October, 1734, he
wrote that there were but 750 soldiers in the
entire colony."
While Boishebert was in command, he author-
ized a water mill to be built by Charles Campau,
on a stream which has now disappeared, but which
was known in 1742 as Campau's Mill River, in
later days as Cabacier's Creek, and lastly as
May's Creek, from the adjoining residence of
Judge May. The mill stood nearly where the
Michigan Central Railroad crosses Fort street, in
the city of Detroit, and the stream was in the
basin now occupied by the railroad. In 1753,
Cabacier complained that his land was overflowed,
but it was made to appear that the mill antedated
his concession nearly twenty years, and the
Governor General confirmed Campau's rights. ^
It is mendoned in the petition of the inhabitants
as the only mill convenient to the fort, and^ as
running most of the year. From this it would
seem that the moiilin banal had ceased to exist,
or was distant from the settlement at the fort.^
In 1734, concessions were made to several
1 9 N. Y. Doc, 1036. 3 I Am. St. P., 253.
2 9 N. Y. Doc, 1040. 4 I Am. St. P., 251.
Chap. VI.J TENURES IN ROTURE. 91
Inhabitants, of tracts of various widths from two
to four arpents, and forty arpents deep. These
were made by the Governor and Intendant, under
the decree of 1722 before referred to. Similar
grants were made at intervals until after 1750.
These concessions were upon conditions, (i) of
suit to the iiio2ilin banal when established, (2)
settlement and habitation [y tenir' fen et lien)
within a year ; (3) keeping up fences, and cultiva-
tion, and allowance of roads ; (4) annual dues of
I sol per arpent front, and 20 sols for each 20
arpents of surface, and one busheP of wheat for
the four arpents front. These dues were payable
at Martinmas, (nth November,) the money dues
being receivable in peltries till currency should be
established. (5) Customary lods et ventes accord-
ing to the eouhtme de Paris, and other feudal
rights ; (6) rights reserved In mines, minerals, and
timber for public purposes ; (7). procuring immediate
survey, and Royal patent within two years. All
these on pain of forfeiture.^
It appears that at this time Hugues Pean was
in command, and active In procuring these prl-
1 Although the word minot used in these conveyances is said by Dr.
O'Callaghan to be a larger measure, yet, like other standards of measure
and value, it was not uniform. At Detroit, among the French inhabitants,
the word minot always meant a bushel, and the word pinte a quart, and
chopine a pint. The writers have used these words in many ways. Mr.
Weld says the minot was to the Winchester bushel as loo to 108.765. —
WehVs Travels, 216.
2 All these grants were afterwards classed as " Terres e/i Roturey
Ferriere says these were not feudal tenures, and were subject to only two
principal burdens, viz : the annual cens or dues, and the lods et ventes or
fines of alienation due to the seigneur censier by the purchaser on sale or
exchange. — Ferfiere^s Law Die, " Rotiire^
92 LAND GRANTS. [Chap. VI.
vileges. This officer was a man of distinction
and hereditary Town Major of Quebec. His re-
lations with a subsequent Intendant, Bigot, were
pecuHar and disgraceful. Both of them on their
return to France, after the surrender of 1760,
were tried and convicted of official misdemeanors,
but whether any of them related to conduct here
is not knoWn. Pean was fined six hundred
thousand livres, or Ji 25,000.' Bigot was merely
banished from the court to his estates.
From this time on for several years the annals
are silent, and the people may therefore be pre-
sumed to have prospered.
Only six of these concessions were ever sent
to Paris for confirmation; and this fact left the
titles at Detroit clear of some difficulties when
the United States began to deal with them.
Anticipating somewhat the course of events,
the only other land grants made by the French
in Michigan were confined to the seigneurie
granted to the Chevalier de Repentigny at the
Sault de Ste. Marie, in 1750 and 1751, of six
leagues square. He took possession and began
the settlement to the satisfaction of the French
Government, who had found it necessary to
check the advances of the English among the
northern tribes. When Carver passed through,
in 1767, he found the possession kept up by a
person who had been in Repentigny's employ,
I 10 N. Y. Doc , 1 126.
Chap. VI.] REPENTIGNY. * 93
and left in charge, but who then claimed to own
it himself. Repentigny was a very distinguished
officer and reached high rank in the French
army, having been made Marquis and General.
This claim was presented to the United States
authorities in 1825, but not allowed by the com-
missioners, as the act of Congress was not broad
enough to cover it. It w^as afterwards brought
before the Supreme Court of the United States,'
where it was decided that the action of Congress
previously had cut it off. The judgment was one
which took rather narrower views of these con-
cessions than seem to have been taken by the
French or British authorities, and held that the
act of Congress under which the claim was pre-
sented for adjudication was not intended to waive
any question in the United States Courts, if the
claim was technically cut off when the United States
acquired the country.
The successive Commandants at Detroit appear
to have had no serious difficulties with the inhab-
itants, and the people apparently continued in the
privileges of which Tonty had sought to deprive
them. Licenses seem to have been sold to such
as desired them. Among the officers commanding
at various times, besides those already mentioned,
were Pajot, Deschaillons de St. Ours (a very dis-
tinguished officer), Desnoyelles, Noyan, Sabrevois,
Celoron, Longueuil, De Muy, and Bellestre.
I 5 Wal., 211.
94 INDIAN SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. VI.
Between 1734 and 1739, it is supposed that
M. de Sabrevois was in command, as in his time
the conditions of land grants within the fort seem
to have been fixed as they were afterwards
maintained.'
In 1 741, Beauharnois held councils with the
Indians belonging in the region of Mackinaw and
the shore of Lake Michigan, and under his
auspices they made a number of settlements,
extending from the St. Joseph's River, at various
points, including Muskegon, to L'Arbre Croche.^
The latter became an important settlement, and
was the seat of a considerable industry, the
Indians maintaining a very good reputation, and
being cared for by devoted missionaries. Within
the last thirty years the L'Arbre Croche sugar
was always reckoned clean and reliable, and
brought the best price of any Indian sugar in the
Detroit market ; unless in some few instances
where it was made equally well elsewhere by
known families.
During the remainder of the official term of
Count Maurepas as Minister of the Marine, the
most liberal policy prevailed, as Beauharnois, La
Jonquiere, and De la Galissonniere were all dis-
posed to serve the true interests of the colony.
All of the Phelyppeaux were men of unsullied honor
and integrity, and of much personal independence.
They seem to have inspired much personal attach-
I I Am. St. Pap., 259. 2 9 N. Y. Doc. 1072.
Chap VI.] LOST ISLANDS. 96
ment among the western leaders. La Motte
Cadillac named his Detroit post after ferome
Phelyppeaux, Count Pontchartrain, and Fort Rosa-
lie after his lady. Lakes Pontchartrain and
Maurepas in Louisiana were named after the fath-
er and son. Their names were not so fortunate
in Michigan. Besides the fort at Detroit, three
islands in Lake Superior were called after the fam-
ily, lies Phelyppeaux or Minong, Maurepas and
Pontchartrain. A fourth was named after the In-
tendant Hocquart. He Phelyppeaux was laid down
as an island larger than He Royale, lying between
that and Keweenaw Point, and declared by Carver
like the latter island, to have been large enough for
a province. By the Treaty of 1783 between the
United States and Great Britain, He Phelyppeaux
was one of the boundary marks, the line running
just north of it. The other three islands were
laid down towards the eastward and northeastward.
The Indians had a superstitious fear of
approaching these islands, which were supposed to
be tenanted by the Great Manitou Michabou, and
guarded by mysterious and terrible spirits and
serpents. Of all those named. He Royale is the
only one now known to exist, unless Maurepas
has been confounded with Michipicoten, which is
not in exactly the same region, but is not ver}-
far off, and is identified with it by Alexander
Henry. It is hardly supposable, although that is
a volcanic country, that any such islands can
have disappeared in modern times, but it is not
96 LAW OFFICERS. [Chap. VI.
easy to account for the location and naming of
imaginary islands, where, from the foundation of
Du Luth's fort on the Kaministiquia River, (now
Fort William) the French had been constant
travellers. In these instances the statesmen whose
names were "writ in water" have been no more
fortunate in their monuments than others in like
plight. But they were fortunate in having more
than one remembrancer.
In Mr. Schoolcraft's Journal of Gen. Cass's
first expedition to the sources of the Mississippi
in i8-20, he mentions these islands, and refers to
some of the Indian superstitions concerning them.
As He Phelyppeaux came within the legal limits
of the State of Michigan, it must, with Toledo, be
now reckoned among her lost empires. Its other
name, Minong, has been attached to He Royale,
where, perhaps, it always belonged.
We find now, in the incidental references of
our public records, evidences that Detroit had
become subject to the ordinary incidents of civil
settlements. There was probably from the begin-
ning of the policy of land grants, a Deputy
Intendant, and the same or some other person
acted as notary. The elder Robert Navarre came
to Detroit in 1730, and was constantly employed
in public service of some kind. The King's dues
were payable to his receiver (the Intendant) or a
local sub-receiver, and Navarre's name is the first
found in that capacity, while the receipts are
endorsed on the deeds of the land-owners from
Chap. VI. 1 NOTARIAL ACTS.
97
the beginning. The jurist De Ferriere represents
the functions of a Deputy Intendant to have been
judicial as well as ministerial, and such was
probably the case in Detroit. The notary, (who
at this time generally performed all functions con-
nected with transfers, contracts and successions,)
had no incompatible duties, and Navarre was
Royal Notary. In 1753, M. Landrieve was acting
temporarily as Deputy Intendant, Navarre being
then probably absent on other duty, as he had a
great influence with the Indians. In 1760, we
find Navarre and Baptiste Campau both acting
together as notaries, the latter performing, appar-
ently the duties of Tabellion or notarial clerk and
registrar. It is not likely the judicial duties were
very heavy, but the receipts for the King were
considerable, both in money and wheat, and the
sub-Intendant was curator of the public property
not strictly military. We find at this period that
the Commandant made grants of lands within the
fort, and possibly in the precinct or domain
adjoining. M. de Bellestre declared in a subse-
quent inquiry that this was his absolute right, the
rents, however, belonging to the Crown.' In
some cases a ratification was required from the
Governor General, as indicated by the Decree of
1722. Such cases are found recorded in 1754-5,
on grants from M. de Muy confirmed by Du
Quesne.^ In 1741, such a grant is made by De
I Wayne Record, B., p. 128. 2 Id., A., p. i.
7
98 CONDITIONS OF TOWN GRANTS (Chap. VI.
Noyan to Navarre, without confirmation.' The
terms of tenure were two sols per' foot front, not
redeemable, but payable in cash, and the main-
tenance of the fortifications in proportion to
such front." This was one pile or picket, var-
iously stated from fifteen feet upward in length,
for each foot front of the lot. In 1 745, a sale
is recorded of a house within the fort, and of
*' forty fort pickets, which are all of cedar, appur-
tenant to the said house. "^ This obligation to
supply pickets was afterwards a source of con-
tention, and the duty was disputed. But the
deeds are explicit. In addition to the annual
dues, and to taxes, there were fines of alienation.
On what basis these were settled does not appear,
but it was probably according to the Coutume de
Paris. In 1 760, upon a purchase by De Belles-
tre, the fines on a purchase of 12,000 livres were
666 livres, 13 sols, or more than five per cent."^
Even while no war was existing between
France and England, the British agents (claiming
ostensibly under the Iroquois grant, which was
much more shadowy than the French claims
which they professed to regard as theoretical,)
kept up with their Indian allies a continued series
of attempts to reach the western trade, and get
» Wayne Record, A., p. 29.
2 Id., A., p. r, 17.
3 "Quarante pieux de fort, que sent tous de cedre, dependants de la
dite maison." — A., p. 17.
4 Wayne Record, B., 128.
Chap. VI.] INTRIQUE5 WITH HURONS. 99
control of the country. The Hurons, who had
been deadly enemies of the Iroquois and all their
friends, and who had stood fast by the French,
were approached by these tempters, and by
degrees led away from their fidelity. Their posi-
tion was such as to make this very dangerous.
When Charlevoix was in Detroit he mentioned
that it was desired to establish a Huron mission,
which was not then determined on. In 1742, this
was setded on Bois-blanc Island, on the Canada
side of the mouth of Detroit River, commanding-
the main channel. Father Potier had charge, and
the village was very extensive, regularly laid out,
and containing several hundred people. It was
then of several years' standing. It is likely it
had been removed thither from Detroit, and
Father de la Richardie is said to have at one
time been a missionary in the tribe. For a per-
iod of some years these intrigues went on, and
the Commander at Detroit was diligent in oppos-
ing them. Hearing that the English had designs
on White River and the Wabash country, Celoron,
a former Commandant of Detroit, in i 743, allowed
men and supplies to go from Detroit to open a
trade at White River with a body of Senecas,
Onondagas and others of the Five Nations, who
had settled there to the number of about 600, and
who professed friendship. Robert Navarre was
sent out to examine and report on the prospects..
Beauharnois and Hocquart directed M. de Lon-
gueuil, then in command at Detroit, to send out
100 TRADE AT DETROIT INJURED. [Chap. VI.
goods and supplies on die King's account, and
expressed themselves as desirous, since the settle-
ment could not be broken up, of getdng it, if
possible, to be friendly. But there was evidently
suspicion of mischief.'
In 1 744, the hostilities existing made it neces-
sary to make preparations, and Longueuil suc-
ceeded in securing the adhesion of the nations
near Detroit, and sent out Indian forces to prevent
the English traders from reaching White River,
as well as to guard the approaches to the Ohio.
Celoron and Joncaire were able for a time to
ensure the neutrality of several of the New York
bands of Senecas and others.^
But the disturbed condition of the country
operated injuriously on Detroit. In 1745, com-
plaint was made by Beauharnois, in his letters to
France, that the licenses to trade at Detroit and
Mackinaw could hardly be given away, although
those places were not well supplied ; and he
expressed misgivings as to the conduct of the
Indians when trade should fall off.^ About the
same time the country was troubled by deserters
and renegades from Louisiana, who found their
way up to Detroit and its vicinity. The Chevalier
de Longueuil, who was at this time decorated
with the Cross of St. Louis for his services, was
very active and energetic, and did much to
keep the country quiet. But some of the Detroit
Indians held back.^
I 9 N. Y. Doc, 1099. 3 10 N. Y. Uoc , 21.
a 9 N. Y- Doc, nil, II 12. 4 10 N. Y. Doc, 34, 37, 38.
Chap. VI. J SERIOUS TROUBLES. 101
The supply of provisions from the lands about
Detroit began to fail, and for a while there was
danger of suffering on this account. The Hurons
became mutinous, and it was evident they had
been effectually tampered with.' In 1 747, Father
Potier was obliged to leave Bois-blanc and go up
to Detroit. They committed outrages in various
places, killing several Frenchmen at Sandusky.
They had also planned a massacre of the people
in the fort at Detroit, which was overheard by a
squaw, by whom it was revealed to a Jesuit lay-
brother, who informed Longueuil. The rising was
general, and manifestations were made in all parts
of Michigan and the Northwest. Longueuil
succeeded in persuading a deputation of several
tribes to go with Bellestre to Quebec to confer
with the Governor. Among these were the great
chiefs Sastaretsi and Taychatin. After his
departure the Hurons held a council, in which
they desired Father de la Richardie to be sent up.
Arrangements were made that he should accom-
pany Bellestre to Detroit. Unfortunately, both
the chiefs died before these gentlemen started.^
The year 1747 was one of constant trouble
about Detroit. The Indians who had agreed to
attack the Huron village at Bois-blanc, when the
troubles broke out, refused to do so. Longueuil,
however, had succeeded in getting the upper hand
of the Miamis and others to the southward, and
they sent to sue for peace. Three of the treach-
I 10 N. Y. Doc, 38, 83, 114, 115, 119. 2 Id., 123, 124.
102 Indian outrages. [Chaf. Vi.
erous Huron chiefs, Nicolas, Orotoni and Anioton,
who had been most deeply implicated, came also
for the same purpose. While these were at
Detroit, news came that a party had waylaid three
Frenchmen at Grosse He, and attempted to
murder them. The Frenchmen themselves soon
appeared, wounded, but not fatally. Longueuil
immediately sent a force of thirty men after the
marauders. The deputies, fearing for themselves,
informed the Commander that the criminals were
concealed at Bois-blanc, and volunteered to arrest
them. Longueuil accepted their offer, and gave
them ten more men to accompany them. They
overtook the first detachment, and brought back
the five Indians to the fort. They turned out to
be one Onondaga, as leader, one Huron, one
Seneca, and two Mohegans. The populace killed
the leader as soon as he landed. The rest were
confined in the fort in irons. This event created
great excitement among the Ohio Indians, but
Longueuil pacified them, insisting however, on
retaining the prisoners, and giving the nations to
understand the fate of these depended on the
conduct of the tribes. On the morning of the
29th of December, 1747, the Seneca was found
dead, it being doubtful whether he killed himself
or was killed by the Huron, who was to kill him-
self also. It turned out they had all nearly
succeeded in escaping, as they had loosened
their irons and prepared to kill the guard.
Afterwards, in February, 1748, Longueuil re-
Chap. VI.] HURON MISSION. ] 08
leased the three survivors, upon the request of
formal deputations of northern and southern
tribes, and upon very fair promises. He did this
against the wishes and protests of the French at
Detroit, and was censured by the Governor Gen-
eral. But the event proved fortunate, as the In-
dians sought eagerly to show their sincerity by
taking the war-path ; and he had no further serious
trouble with them, although there were some abor-
tive attempts made here and there to do mischief.'
In April, 1748, Galissonniere reports prospects of
future tranquility.^
In 1748, it was questioned whether it might
not be well to remove the fort to Bois-blanc ;
but it was not thought best to do so, as the In-
dians had settled at Detroit. The Huron Mission
was re-established,3 under strong recommendations
from the Governor to renew it, but with great
precautions to have it in a safe place ; and at this
time it was accordingly removed, to the present
town of Sandwich, opposite the western part of
the city of Detroit. Father de la Richardie became
attached to it, at the Governor's request. Father
Potier also appears to have remained with it. A
church was built of respectable dimensions, which,
until about twenty years ago, was the place of
worship of the Catholic population of that region.
It was then taken down, — a commodious and spa-
I 10 N. Y. Narratives of 1747-1748, passim.
* 10 N. Y. Doc, 133.
3 10 N. Y. Doc, 162, 148.
104 MEMOIR ON THE COLONIES. [Chap. VI.
cioLis brick church having been built in its imme-
diate vicinity. The point at Sandwich where they
settled is named in the Governor's report " Point
Montreal."' This name is not retained, and has
not been noted except in that document.
In October, the Governor instructed Longueuil
that, although the French and English were at
peace, the English, if seeking to settle on the Ohio,
White or Rock Rivers, or any of their tributaries,
must be resisted by force.^ He expressed the
strongest convictions of the importance of Mack-
inaw and Detroit.^
In December, 1750, the late Governor, De la
Galissonniere, who had been succeeded by De la
Jonquiere, prepared an elaborate memoir on the
French colonies, which is one of the most enlight-
ened documents ever written on that subject.^ He
pointed out the utility of colonies, and the reasons
why the French, with less population, had obtained
advantages over the English in dealing with the
Indians ; which he, as well as the English officials
in this country, attributed to the habits of the
French inhabitants in woodcraft, and in living with
and like the Indians. But he warned the Govern-
ment that this was accidental, and could not always
be relied on.
After noting the weak points as well as
advantages of various places, he makes special
1 10 N. Y. Doc ,178. 3 10 N. Y. Doc , 183-4.
2 10 N. Y Doc ,179. 4 10 N. Y, Doc, 220.
Chap. VI.] GALISSONNlfeRE'S MEMOIR. 105
reference to Detroit. "This last place demands
now the greatest attention. Did it once contain
a farming population of a thousand, it would feed
and defend all the rest. Throughout the whole
interior of Canada it is the best adapted for a
town, where all the trade of the lakes would con-
centrate; were it provided with a good o-arrison
and surrounded by a goodly number of setde-
ments, it would be enabled to overawe almost all
the Indians of the Continent. It is sufficient to
see its position on the map to understand its
utility. It would stand on the River St. Lawrence
within reach of the Oyo, the Illinois, the River
Mississippi, and in a position to protect all these
different places, and even the posts north of the
Lakes."
He concludes his memoir by urging that "the
resolution ought to be adopted to send a great
many people to New France, in order to enable
those who have the administration thereof, to
work at the same time at the different proposed
forts.. These people ought to be principally sol-
diers, who can in a very short time be converted
into good settlers."
He suggests that some fmix-sauimers, and
even a few paupers might be sent, the latter to
be very sparingly furnished as needed. Other
persons of doubtful character should not be sent
unless called for.
Many suggestions are made as to the estab-
lishment of profitable industries. In this regard
106 NEW SETTLERS. [Chap. VI.
there was a great contrast between the French
and EngHsh. The whole current of ParHamentary
and Royal regulation was towards preventing the
English colonies from producing anything but raw
material. Manufactures were obstructed and
prohibited. In New France there was constant
encouragement to industry, and the restrictions
were confined to the fur trade and dealings with
the Indians.
In 1750 and 1751, in pursuance of these views
and of previous similar suggestions, a consider-
able number of settlers were sent out, and
advances were made to them by the government
imtil they were able to take care of themselves.
They prospered after they had become fairly
settled. But in 1752, it appears that provisions
were scarce, so that Indian corn reached twenty
livres a bushel in peltries, and it was feared some
of the Canadians would have to be sent away.
The Hurons and other Indians on whom reliance
had been formerly had for corn, could not, trom
recent disturbances, have been able to furnish it ;
and the Commandant at the Illinois would not
permit provisions to be sent thence.' Both
Celoron and Longueuil had been censured for
not being more alert in furthering the Ohio expe-
ditions, but this was perhaps the reason.^ Famine
was not the only danger at Detroit. The small
pox also began its ravages in the adjacent villages
of the Ottawas and Potawatamies.
I 10 N. V Doc, 249. * 10 N. Y. Doc, 249.
Chap. VI.] DETROIT ENLARGED 107
About this time the fort and stockade at
Detroit were considerably enlarged. In 1750, the
Chevalier de Repentigny began his settlement,
and built a fort at the Sault Ste. Marie. In 1754,
reference was made by Duquesne to his progress
in that- work, which " was essential for stopping
all the Indians who came down from Lake
Superior to go to Choueguen, but I do not hear
that this post yields a great revenue."'
In 1755, Vaudreuil, writing to France to Ma-
chault, the Minister of the Marine, makes the fol-
lowing reference to the settlement at Detroit: ''I
doubt not, my Lord, but you have been informed
of the excellence of the Detroit lands. That post
is considerable, well peopled, but three times more
families than it possesses could be easily located
there. The misfortune is that we have not enouo^h
of people in the colony. I shall make arrange-
ments to favor the settlement of two Sisters of
the Congregation at that post, to educate the
children, without costing the King a penny."^
In 1759, Bigot, the Intendant, stated that the
settlers of 1 750-1 had taken care of themselves
and been selling wheat since 1754, from which
time they had entailed no expense on the crown. ^
During the border war that was going on be-
tween the French and English, in the settlements
and regions between the Ohio and the Lakes, the
Detroit militia appear to have taken an active
1 10 N. Y. Doc, 263. 3 10 N. Y. Doc, 1048.
2 10 N. Y. Doc, 376.
108 DIFFICULTIES WITH ENGLISH. [Chap VI.
part, and the number of French soldiers — apart
from the Indians — must have been quite large/
Hellestre was especially active, and commanded in
several sharp engagements. The Reports speak
of him repeatedly with very high encomiums. The
supplies for the operations on the Ohio, and in
Pennsylvania and Virginia, came largely from De-
troit.
Before hostilities broke out there was much
crimination and recrimination between the Cana-
dian Government and the English authorities in
New York, the former accusing British emissaries
with conspiring to assassinate the Commander at
Detroit, and the latter charging similar misdeeds
on the French/ The old dispute was also renewed
in regard to priority of claim to Detroit, which
had been so bitter in the early part of the century.^
Colden, Delancey, and Pownall, in various ways,
urged the necessity of getting control of this re-
gion."* Pownall referred to it at length in the
Albany Congress of 1754, which was intended to
unite the Ensflish colonies in a confederation for
general defence, and the management of their
common interests. ^
When the English performed the cruel deed
of banishincr the Acadians from their homes, and
scattering families as well as communities, with a
cold-blooded inhumanity that no excuse can miti-
1 10 N. Y. Doc , 425. 4 6 N. V. Doc, 990.
2 6 N. V. Doc, 105, 107, 489, 493, 579. 5 6 N. Y. Doc, 893.
3 6 N. Y. Doc, 743, 773, 731.
Chap VI.
SURRENDER 109
gate, some of the untortunate victims found a
refuge in Detroit, as well as in other French set-
tlements. The beautiful story of Evangeline is a
sad but not exaofcrerated tale of these atrocities.
As the war on the lower St. Lawrence drew
towards its close, Bellestre was chosen to take
charge of the post of Detroit,' and to gather in
all the western forces to preserve it at all events.
He had been in command there for some years,
but was too valuable a man to leave unemployed;
and so long as there was any service to be done
elsewhere he was given large powers. Vaudreuil,
in June, 1760, wrote to the French Minister
Berryer : " M, de Bellestre is preparing to receive
the English, who I think are not going to Detroit ;
it may cost them very dear, because all the na-
tions are disposed to join the French."^
But, on the 8th of September, 1 760, the whole
Province was surrendered. In November, 1760,
Major Robert Rogers, with a force consisting of
part of the 60th (Royal Americans) and 80th
regiments, appeared below the town and demanded
its surrender. The Commandant was justly aston-
ished, and in no way inclined to accept the truth
of the capitulation of a post he had been so care-
fully warned to defend. But the evidence was
unanswerable, and he was compelled to submit ;
and the British flag was raised over the astounded
settlement.
I 10 N. Y. Doc , 1093. 2 10 N. Y. Doc, 1094.
110 PIQUOTE DE BELLESTRE. [Chap. VJ.
Francois Marie, commonly called and signing
himself Piquote de Bellestre, was so highly es-
teemed by the French authorities, that it seems
strange to find him spoken of lightly by some of
our writers as a fanfaron and a man of small
account. There are few names so often and so
honorably mentioned during the period of his
entire manhood. He was head of one of the
oldest houses of Canada, and was a Knight of St.
Louis. Immediately after the organization of the
Legislative Council of Lower Canada, under the
Royal proclamation of 1763, he was made one of
its m'embers, and was also Superintendent of
Public Ways. In 1775, the Canadian noblesse
were enrolled under his command, and he did
notable service to the British, in opposing the
American invasion at St. Jean, for which he
received public thanks from the commanding gen-
eral. He lived to a good old age, and saw the
inauguration of the new government of Lower
Canada in 1791. He left no son. His daughter
married Major Mc Donell, of the British Army.
As the last of the French Commanders, he
deserves a prominent place in the History of
Michigan.
CHAPTER VII.
MICHIGAN UNDER BRITISH MILITARY RULE.
The assumption of possession of Michigan by
the EngHsh, when there was but a single town,
properly so called, and when the settlers near it
were few in number, and all within a line of ten
miles long, did not give occasion for any imme-
diate change of legal systems. In fact there was
so little for law to operate upon, that the people
knew nothing about its niceties. By the articles
of capitulation of Montreal, those Frenchmen who
chose to do so could leave the colony, and,
under some limitations, dispose of their estates.
Repentigny would not stay in America, but w^ent
to France, and his infant colony almost disap-
peared. In May, 1762, Alexander Henry found
there a stockaded fort and four houses, which
had formerly been used by the Governor, inter-
preter and garrison. At this time there remained
but one family, that of Mr. Cadotte, the inter-
preter, whose wife was a Chippew^a. During that
season Lieutenant Jamette arrived with a small
detachment to garrison the fort. In December of
that year, all but one of the houses were burned.
112 MACKINAW. DETROIT. [Chap. VII.
and a part of the stockade, which was just below
the rapids.
The Island of Michilimackinac was at this
time the seat of a Chippewa village. The fort
was, where it had been in Charlevoix's time, south
of the strait. When the French ^farrison aban-
doned it, there was a time during which it was
not looked after at all; but there were some
French inhabitants. The fort was built of cedar
pickets, and had an area of two acres. It stood
so near the beach that the waves beat against
the stockade in a high wind. Within the enclosure
were thirty neat and commodious houses, and a
church. There were two small brass cannon
which had been captured by the Canadians on
some raid in the Hudson's Bay country.'
The population of Detroit and its vicinage
has been variously estimated. Rogers estimated it
at 2,500, with 300 dwellings. Croghan, in 1764,
says there were * 300 or 400 families. There must
have been a considerable settlement, as a large
force was sent up and quartered there until re-
duced by detachments. All the accounts are
somewhat unreliable as they seldom define the ex-
tent of the settlement. Very few, if any, of the
population left the country after the surrender.
Some went to Illinois. Bellestre and his garrison
were escorted to the East. The settlement was
on both sides of the Strait, extending to Lake St.
Clair.
I Henry, 40, 41.
Chap. VII.] PANIS. BUFFALOES. 113
There were in this, as in other parts of the
colony, a good many slaves. A very few were of
African descent. Most were Pams or Pawnees,
who were originally captives brought by the hi-
dians from the west and south, and most of
them belonging to distant tribes. Such captives
included Cherokees, Choctaws, Pawnees, Osaoes,
and some others, but the name Pani was applied
to all Indians in slavery. The treaty of peace
secured the title to these servants as of other
property, and the old records contain many refer-
ences to them and conveyances of them. They
continued to be kept after the American posses-
sion, and the last of the race that our generation
has known was (though not then a slave) in the
service of Governor Woodbridge a few years
since."
At the time of the change of sovereignty, in
1760, the wilderness had not been encroached
upon, and, besides a great abundance of other game,
buffaloes were very numerous in the Lower Penin-
sula, and for many years after were found in herds
along the River Raisin, and all through the oak
opening and prairie country.
The Treaty of Peace was not signed until
1763. Till then no regulations were adopted by
the Crown for the government of the country,
and it was under the control of General Gaoe ;
o
I Judge Burnet, in his '' Notes on the Northwest," speaks of the Detroit
Pawnee servants as exceptionally good and docile.
8
114 CHARERT DE JONCAIRE. [Chap. VII.
but he was much aided by the judicious counsels
of Sir WiUiam Johnson, whose advice was always
honest and generally wise, but not always heeded.
The most active and intelligent Frenchman of
consequence, who continued in this part of the
country, was the Chevalier Chabert de Joncaire, a
celebrated partisan leader among the French, who
had great influence with the Senecas, and acted
on occasion as interpreter. He was an object of
suspicion to the English after the conquest, and
received frequent mention in the reports. He
afterwards became an officer in the British service,
and was active among the Indians in the British
interest during Wayne's campaign. After the
Americans took possession, he was always reckoned
a worthy citizen, and was one of the first dele-
gates from Wayne County to the Legislature of
the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, in 1799. He
was then generally known as Colonel Chabert,
though using for his signature his name of Jon-
caire.^
As soon as Montreal capitulated, Major Rob-
ert Rogers, who had gained reputation as a par-
tisan ranger, was appointed to accompany the
detachments which were to take possession of the
western posts. A large part of the forces con-
sisted of several companies of the 60th or Royal
I His father and grandfather, like himself, appear to have had much to
do with the Senecas and other New York Indians, and to have acted as
agents and interpreters in some of their negotiations His name seems to
have puzzled both Dutch and English, who write it sometimes as JohnCoeur,
and Jean Caire, but seldom correctly.
Chap. VII. J ROYAL AMERICANS. 115
American Regiment, officered cliiefly by American
gentlemen from New York and other Eastern
colonies, several of them of Scottish birth or des-
cent. Colonel George Croghan, who had long
experience with the Indians, accompanied the ex-
pedition. On their way up in Ohio, near Cuya-
hoga River, they encountered Pontiac, the great
chief of the Ottawas, who had for more :han
twenty years kept his village a litde above Detroit,
on the eastern side of the river. After a parley
he parted with them peaceably, and with apparent
friendliness. In November, 1760, as before men-
tioned, after some difficulty in persuading Bellestre
that the Province had capitulated, Rogers took
possession of De'troit.
The officers of the 60th seem to have been
much better qualified to deal with the Indians
than some of their associates. Sir William John-
son, whose correspondence on Indian affairs marks
him as a just man, repeats over and over again
his complaints that the hostility pf the Indians
was originally excited and always kept up, by the
arrogance and insolence of the English. In 1768.
reviewing the course of the past few years, he re-
curred to this in reference to the Pondac War.'
And it is mentioned in one of the Reports, that
on the first expedition this spirit was offensively
manifest. Rogers and Croghan were better skilled
in dealinor with the savao^es, and the officers of the
60th were generally well thought of in the coun-
I 8 N. Y. Doc, 85.
116
DETROIT TRADERS. [Chap. VII.
try. Some of them, however, knew very little of
the Indians.
Captain Donald Campbell, of the 6oth, was
made first commandant, and continued in command
till superseded by Major Gladwin, his superior in
rank, in 1763.
Immediately in the train of the expedition,
came traders from Albany, who got a very early
foothold in the country. They were mostly Dutch,
and bore names still familiar in New York. There
were also some roving English traders, whom Sir
William Johnson refers to with much bitterness.
In his elaborate Review, of September, 1767, he
mentions numerous instances of the mischief done
by the greedy and unscrupulous adventurers, who
cheated and deceived the Indians and made all
Englishmen obnoxious to the savages.'
The greatest number of permanent traders
who finally settled in Detroit were of Scottish
birth or origin, and their eastern connections were
principally with Schenectady and Albany. These
gentlemen obtained and kept a great ascendancy
among the Indians. They came mostly after the
Pontiac war.
Sir Jeffery Amherst stated in 1762, that up to
that time trade had been entirely free.^ It appears,
however, that passes were required to go into the
Indian country, but they were at first granted al-
.most as a matter of course. Under the King's
I 7 N. Y. Doc , 953, et seq. 2 7 N. Y. Doc, 508.
Chap VII.] TREATY RIGHTS. 117
proclamation of 1763, they issued to all who gave
security/ The Albany merchants appear to have
been quite arrogant in their claims.^
While the access to Detroit was made easy, very
few were allowed to go into the upper country.
The French who remained in that remon, as well
as in the Illinois country and Detroit, were not
contented, and were in many instances very active
in stirring up the Indians. As early as June, 1761,
General Gage had discovered that Pontiac was
busy in the French interest, and Alexander Henry
on this account had great trouble in procuring
permission to go to Mackinaw.^ The Indians did
not regard themselves as subject to be disposed
of by French and English treaties, and were very
partial to their old friends.
A period of eighteen months after the Definit-
ive Treaty of 1763 was allowed to the inhabitants,
to determine whether to remain in the colony or
remove to France ; and they were allowed to sell
their lands, on such removal, to British subjects.
Many Acadians had come into Canada to escape
the oppression which they had met at home, and,
efforts were made to secure to them the same
terms given to the Canadians ; but the preliminary
capitulation rejected these, and left them in many
respects at the mercy of the British. The Definit-
ive Treaty seems to have put them all on sub-
stantially the same footing, and it is not known
1 7 N. Y. Doc, 535, 637. • 3 Henry, ii.
2 7 N. Y. Doc, 613.
Il8 FRENCH DISAFFECtlON. [Chap. Vtt.
that any difference was afterwards made between
them. The inhabitants of French descent for a
lonor time regarded themselves as treated with
quite impartial harshness.
The French inhabitants had hoped that Canada
might be restored to France. In 1763, a plan of
insurrection is found to have been communicated
to the French Government/ but there was little
material except Indians to work with, since the
French officers had then mostly left the country.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt the interval
between the fall of Montreal and the final pacifi-
cation of Canada, was filled with plots and schemes
to shake off the English yoke. Joncaire was very
active, and others less noted. The garrison and
traders in Detroit, in their correspondence, show
a very uneasy feeling in regard to their Canadian
neighbors, who were unmistakably disgusted with
the chancre of eovernment, althoucrh havinor no
particular reason for ill-will against their own
garrison. Sir William Johnson, when in Detroit,
in 1 761, did what he could to secure a pleasant
state of things with the tribes, but went home full
of misgivings.^ When Alexander Henry went to
the upper country that year, he found it necessary
to disguise himself* to save his life from the savages;
and even at Mackinaw he was in constant
danger until the troops came up under Ether-
ington and Leslie. Lieutenant Gorrell, who was
sent on to Green Bay with the same expedition,
1 10 N. Y. Doc, 1 157. 2 7 N. Y. Doc, 525, 575.
t
Chap. VII.] CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. 119
found himself unable to meet the demands of the
Indians for what they claimed to be the customary
presents; and the Commandant at Detroit had,
not means to supply him. The Green Bay Indians,
however, were from the first quite friendly, while
the deadliest hatred towards the English was
among the Chippewas. The northern Ottawas,
whom we generally in later times have been
accustomed to regard as practically united with
the latter, were then not so disposed, and in more
than one instance prevented the Chippewas from
doinof mischief. The conduct of the Sakis or Sacs
and Ottawas at L'Arbre Croche in befriending
Captain Etherington and Gorrell, with their asso-
ciates, after the massacre at Mackinaw, in 1763,
was very v/armly commended by Sir William John-
son and the colonial office.' Pontiac himself was
a chief of the Ottawas, and his band adhered to
him ; but they were a more humane and civil-
ized race than the Chippewas, and the northern
Ottawas were not always in the closest relations
with all of the other bands. Some doubts have
been expressed by careless writers about Pontiac's
tribal relations. But in the Mission Records of
1 742 he is mentioned as chief of the Ottawas,
near Detroit. A chief of the same name — per-
haps a relative — is found among the Ottawa signers
of the treaty made at the Miami Rapids in 181 7,
though his reputed nephew, the celebrated cen-
tenarian Okemos, was a chief of the Chippewas.
I Gorrell's Narrative. 7 N. Y. Doc, 543, 552, 561.
120 PONTIAC. [Chap. Vtl.
In 1766, Pontiac executed alone, on behalf of the
Ottawa Nation, a conveyance to Doctor George
Christian Anthon,' of land adjoining his village.
As this was done at a public treaty, at the time
when he made his peace with the English, and in
presence of Colonel Croghan, the Indian Superin-
tendent, and Colonel Campbell, the Commander of
Detroit, there can be no question of his tribal
position.
Except for the uneasiness concerning the schemes
of Pontiac, there seems to have been nothing im-
portant in the affairs of Michigan at this period.
The history of his final assault upon the western
posts, and its terrible success at all of them except
Detroit, has been made familiar by the fascinating
pages of Mr. Parkman. The only occupied points
in the territory now belonging to Michigan were
St. Joseph, Mackinaw and Detroit. The wSault Ste.
Marie had been abandoned before the outbreak.
St. Joseph was held by an ensign and fourteen men,
who were suddenly attacked by the Potawatamies
on the 25th of May, 1763, and all but Ensign
Schlosser and three men were tomahawked.
These four were taken to Detroit and exchanged.
At Mackinaw, Captain Etherington, in spite of the
plainest and surest warnings, neglected all precau-
tions, and was entrapped by a simple contrivance.
I This grant was made in token of the good will of the Nation to Doc-
tor Anthon, probably for his medical services. He was father of the emin-
ent scholars Henry, Charles and John Anthon, of New York, some of whom
were natives of Detroit.
Chap. Vll.] MASSACRE AT MACKINAW. 121
The Indians organized a great game oibaggattaway,^
or la crosse, (named from the long handled net
or racket with which the ball is thrown to a
great distance.) In this game there are two posts
or goals at a long distance apart, and the two
parties each seek to drive the ball to opposite
points. Etherington was leisurely observing the
game (on which he had laid wagers) and, as if
by chance, the ball was thrown into the fort, and
the Indians rushed in pell mell" after it. Once
within the fort, they began the slaughter. Ether-
ington and Lieutenant Leslie, with a handful of
men, were hurried away as prisoners, together
with Mr. Bostwick, a trader who had preceded
Henry, and Father Jonois, the missionary at
L'Arbre Croche. Henry was concealed by a
Pani woman in the garret of Mr. Lanelade, a
Frenchman, who was an off-shoot of the distin-
guished colonial family of that name, but who
showed an utter want of common humanity in
his dealings with the unfortunate fugitive. He
was finally saved by the intercession of an Indian
named Wawatam, who had become attached to him
and adopted him as his brother. The Jesuit mis-
1 Pagaadowan. The Indian crosier or raquette, with which the game is
played. Pagaadoivewin \\i^ g?iXi^^ '\i?>€i{.— Baraga. The l)all is called ///{■-
wakwad.—Id. The raquette resembles a long handled battledore. Charle-
voix describes two games of ball with these implements — Letter 22.
2 There was one fashion of playing the old English game of pall mall
with a racket, and this term pell-mell may have been derived from the con-
fused rush which is always made for the ball in such games, as in the game
of shinty, {viilgo shinny.) See quotations under " Pall Mall " in Richard-
son* s Dictionary.
122
RESCUE OF PRISONERS. [Chap. VII.
sionary, who was a good and sensible man, was
sent to Detroit with messages to Major Gladwin.
Henry was taken to the Island of Mackinaw, and
concealed for a time in Scull Cave. He was
afterwards taken safely to the lower lakes. The
other captives were carried to L'Arbre Croche,
and kindly treated. During this carnival of cru-
elty, the bodies of the slain were boiled and
eaten by the Indians, and Henry's friend Wawa-
tam partook of the horrid feast.
Etherington managed to send a letter to
Lieutenant Gorrell, at Green Bay. That gallant
officer gathered a force of friendly Indians, and
set out to the rescue of his comrades. ^He
stopped near Beaver Island, expecting to find
them there. He was met by a canoe sent out
from L'Arbre Croche, and then pushed on to
meet them at that place. By the good offices of
the Ottawas, who would not let the Chippewas
stop or injure them, they were all enabled to
reach Montreal.'
In these massacres the French were left un-
harmed, and were evidently on good terms with
the Indians. Some of them showed the qualities
which become Christian and civilized people.
Some of them betrayed no signs of humanity. It
is wonderful to see how often both Frenchmen
and Englishmen on the borders have not only
tolerated but encouraofed Indian barbarities ao^ainst
the whites. The period between the beginning
» Gorrell's Narrative.
Chap VII.] WHITE SAVAGES. 123
of the American Revolution and the Battle of the
Thames, in 1813, witnessed many cruel scenes,
for which men of standing and consequence were
far more responsible than the red men whom
they stirred up to mischief Few, if any, of the
great Indian outbreaks originated with the sava-
ges. No more indignant complaints against this
conduct of influential Englishmen were ever heard
anywhere than those of leading British statesmen
in Parliament against the use of such barbarous
instruments for the slauo^hter of the American
settlers. And Tecumseh, at Fort Meigs, was
active in restraining barbarities, which he rebuked
General Proctor in the most cuttingr lano-uao^e for
allowing and encouraging.
Detroit alone escaped capture. Pontiac had
been very cunning in preparing a device to enable
him and his warriors to o-et within the fort and
destroy the English. They cut their gun barrels
short and concealed them under their blankets,
and sixty head-men thus equipped were allowed
to enter the council house, their followers being
left outside in the road, waiting for the signal.
Major Gladwin had been warned, and had heeded
the warning, and had learned what was to be
Pontiac's signal for attack. As soon as he nodced
the chief preparing for it, he gave a sign, and at
once the drums beat and the soldiers handled
their guns. The great chief was for once thrown
off his balance, and could not conceal his chagrin.
He and his myrmidons departed with lame
124 PONTlAC AT DETROIT. [Chap. VII.
explanations, while Gladwin abstained from showing
the extent of his knowledge of their treachery.
The next day Pontiac made a visit of ceremony,
with the calumet or pipe of peace, which he left
with Major Campbell on his departure as a token
of sincerity. That afternoon he got up a ball-
play, intending a stratagem like that at Mackinaw,
but the garrison were on their guard and took
no part in it. The next morning. May 9th, the
French inhabitants went to mass at the church
above the town, returning before 1 1 o'clock, and
havino- then seen no sions of mischief. But the
common around the fort was soon crowded with
a multitude of warriors of all the neighboring-
tribes, and Pontiac approached the gate and
asked to be admitted. He was told that he could
come in himself, but not his followers. On say-
ing that they wished to smoke the calumet, Glad-
win gave him to understand, very curtly and
plainly, that they must keep out. This ended the
pantomime. The hate and wrath of the savages
were no longer concealed ; but they did not begin
the war by attacking soldiers. They first ran
across the common to the cottage of an old En-
glishwoman, and killed and scalped her and her
family. Hence they proceeded up the river to
Hog Island,' and there found an old English
1 This island was first named He a Ste. Claire. Being infested with
rattlesnakes, several hogs were turned loose on the island to destroy them ;
and in time they in turn became numerous and very wild. This obtained tur
it the name of He aux Cochons, or Hog Island. In 1845, a party of ladies
and gentlemen on a picnic solemnly named it Belle Isle — its present title.
Chap. VII.] ALEXIS CUILLERIEK. 125
I
sergeant named James Fisher, whom they also
murdered. Tradition says that the dead man's
body, which was decendy Interred by Canadian
neighbors, would not rest, though covered more
than once, but thrust out its imploring hands
until quieted by the rites of the church.
A curious legal episode Is connected with this
murder. When the war was over, a Frenchman
named Alexis Cuillerier (an ancestor or relative,
it is believed, of the Beaublen family, their name
being properly Cuillerier de Beaublen) was tried by
a court of inquiry, and sentenced to banishment
from the settlement for drowning Fisher's child.
In 1769, Captain Turnbull (then commanding) pub-
lished an order' recalling him from banishment,
and ordering all people to abstain from charging
him with guilt. The order recites that he was
convicted on the tesdmony of a false witness,
who Is declared to have been found oulltv of in-
famous offences and utterly unworthy of credit.^
1 Wayne County Records, A., 91.
2 This curious document, having been issued in French and English,
(both originals), is subjoined in both languages as recorded. The verbal pe-
culiarities were probably correctly preserved. The French copy gives the
correct name of the accuser.
" By George Turnbull Esqfe Capt. in His Majesty's 60th Regi-
ment, Commanding Detroit & its Dependencies, &c.
Whereas Mr. Alexis Cuillierie has been wrongfully accused by Jno Myer
of having (during the Indian War of 1763) been Guilty of drowning a Child
belonging to the late James Fisher ; the many Circumstancis in favour of
Mr- Cuillierie that were at that time desinedly Conceal'd, but which have ap-
peared since, together with the Testimony of several Creditable Inhabitants,
Concerning the Infamous Character of thatperjur'd Villain Jn'^ Myer who has
126 VINDICATION OF CUILLERIER. [Chap. VII.
This gentleman was very intimate with Pontiac,
and Parkman gives a description of him as a fan-
himself since given a very Glaring & but too Strong proof of said Testimony
by premedilately Murdering James Hill Clark, Trader at the Miamis River,
these and many other sufficient proofs Convmcing me throughly ot M''- Cuil-
lierrie's Innocence, I was determined then to recall him and revoke the or-
ders Publish'd to his prejudice in Consequence of said fals accusation ; but
thought it best, first to Communicate the Same to His Excellency General
Gage, Commander in Chief of all His Majesty's Forces in North America ;
Now, in consequence of Orders receiv'd from his Excellency, the said Mr-
Alexis Cuillierrie is permitted to return and remain here unmolested as soon
as he pleases. And all manner of Persons are hereby strictly forbidden to
seize, stop, injure, molest, or reproach under any pretence whatsoever the
said Mr. Cuillierrie for or on account of the said Malicious & fals Accusation
as they shall answer to the contrary on their peril
Given under my Hand and Seal at Detroit, June 4th, 1769.
For a Coppy sign'd George Turnbull."
" Par George Turnbull Ecuyer Capt Commandant Le Detroit
et Ses Dependences &c.
Comme Mr. Alexis Cuillierier a ete Injustement accuze par Jean Mayet,
davoir pendent La Guerre Sauuage, fait noyer un Enfent, appartenant a feu
Jacques fischer et que maleuresement toutes Les Circonstances en faveur du
susdt Sr Cuilberies etuient dans Ce temps la Malicieuzement Cachees Mais
qui ont Depuis paru authentiquement [par] Le temoignage de plusieurs
Domicilies Dun Caractere Irreprochable Concernant Linfame Conduite de
Cet Indigne par Jure Jean Mayet, qui a par lui meme donne depuis des
preuves Claires et Convinquentes des Temoignages Cydessus enplongean ses
pcrfides Mains dans le sang de Jacques hill Clark Dans la riviere des Mis
amis tout Cecy et plusieur autres preuues Mayant entierement Con vincu
Delinnocence du Susdt Sr Cuillieries Jetois Determine de le Rappeler et
anuUer Lordre que Javois donne et fait publier Contre Iny en Consequence
de la fausse accusation. Mais ayant pence, quil etoit plus apropos, de la
Communiquer a son Exelence Le General Gage, Commandant en Chef de
toutes Les forces de sa Majeste dans Lamerique du nord Maintenant en
Consequence des ordres Regue de Son Exelence; il est permis au-
susdt S>". Alexis Cuillieries de Revenir aussitot quil luy plaira, et y Rester
paisible : il est done en Joint et ordonne atoutes personnes quelconques de ne
point Injuner, ou Reprocher La Mt>indre Chose, au Susdt Sr Alexis Cuilleries
au sujet de la fause et Malicieuze accusation intente Contre Luy tous
Ceux qui Contreviendront a lordre Cy dessus en Repondront a leur
Risque et peril.
Donne au Detroit le 4, Juin 1769
Pour Copie. Signe Geo: Turnbull."
Chap. VII.] MAJOR CAMPBELL VISITS PONTIAC. 127
tastic and foppish person, whom the chief used as
a tool.' The tradition, it appears, did him injustice.
The settlers were generally on good terms with the
chiefs, and in some instances they were no doubt
unjustly suspected of plotting with Pontiac. Glad-
win reported that several, whose characters always
stood well in Detroit, were at the bottom of the
plot, and guilty of the worst treachery ; and Sir
William Johnson, and Lord Shelburne, more than
once repeated the charge,^ and some were very earn-
est for their punishment. Our own writers, best
informed, have not been satisfied of their miscon-
duct. And until the final cession of the country
in 1763. it is difficult to see any reason why they
should have been active for the English.
At first Gladwin did not believe the outbreak
was very serious ; and even after the Indians had
attacked the fort, and been driven off with con-
siderable loss, he attempted to negotiate. Messrs.
Chapoton and Godfroy were sent with an inter-
preter, La Butte, to parley with Pontiac. He com-
pletely deceived them into supposing he was dis-
posed to treat ; and desired that Major Campbell,
who was Gladwin's predecessor, and esteemed by
French and Indians for his probity and fairness,
should come to his camp. This officer, against
Gladwin's misgivings, ^ desired to go, and was ac-
I Conspiracy of Pontiac, p. 224. 2 7 N. V. Doc, 600, 6S7.
3 Gladwin's conduct in permitting their departure was approved, as ne-
cessary to enable him to get provisions lor the fort — as he gained this advan-
tage by temporising — 7 N. Y. Doc, 617.
128 McDOUGALL ESCAPES. CAMPBELL KILLED. [Chap. VIL
companied by Lieutenant George McDougall, of his
regiment. They went up to Pontiac's camp, at
Bloody Run, where an angry mob set upon them,
and if the chief had not interfered they would have
been killed. He retained them as prisoners, and,
instead of negotiating, immediately made prepara-
tions to cut off any reinforcements which might
come from below. He took Major Campbell with
the canoes down the river. They intercepted the
despatch schooner at the entrance of Lake Erie,
and in making their attack on it placed the officer
in the bow of a canoe as a screen between them
and the vessel, to prevent her firing on them.
The veteran called to the crew to do their duty
without regard to him ; but a fresh wind carried
her beyond pursuit, and she reached Niagara
River in safety. Pontiac desired to make terms
with the fort by using him as a hostage, but
without effect. After the original treachery was
discovered, McDougall, with a trader named Van
E*ps,' escaped. His older companion would not
attempt it, being short-sighted, and fearing to im-
pede his comrade. He was afterwards murdered
by Wasson, a chief of the Chippewas. Pontiac was
not a party to this crime, and regretted it.
The first force sent to aid the beleaguered
town, under Lieutenant Cuyler, was intercepted
» 7 N, Y. Doc , 533. McDougall remained in Detroit. His two sons,
Colonel George McDougall and Colonel John R McDougall were promin-
ent citizens forty years ago. The latter was grandfather of Mr. Alexander
M. Campau of Detroit. He owned the farm west of Meloches, near Bloody
Run.
Chap. VII. J MASSACRE OF BLOODY RUN. 129
at Pointe Pelee, and turned back.' In July, Cap-
tain Dalzell, an aid of Sir Jeffery Amherst, arrived
with suppHes, and with 280 men, inckiding, in
addition to detachments from the 55th and 80th
regiments, twenty rangers, all under the command
of Major Robert Rogers. A heavy fog favored
their landing. Dalzell on his arrival foolishly in-
sisted on making a night march, and attacking
the Indians in their camp. The secret leaked out,
and Pontiac was advised of the plan. At two
o'clock in the morning of July 31, 1763, 250 men
marched out of the fort and up the River Road,
protected in part on the river by two large boats
with swivels. Two miles above the fort the road
crossed a bridge at the mouth of a stream then
known as Parent's Creek, but since as Bloody
Run. The banks formed a ravine, through which
the stream ran rapidly until it neared the Detroit
River, when it spread out into a little mere, or
marsh-bordered pond, narrowing at the bridge to
about twenty feet, and being there quite deep.
As soon as the troops reached the bridge they were
assailed by a murderous 'fire, and the ravine became
a scene of carnage. The darkness bewildered
them, and they were compelled to retreat, fighting
against ambuscades all the way, until they reached
the fort again at eight o'clock, after six hours of
marching and fighting in that short road. DalzclP
1 7 N. Y. Doc, 526.
2 This officer's name is written Ualyell in many documents, and Dr.
D'Callaghan takes Parkman to task tor writing it Dalzell. The latter form is
9
130 SIEGE RAISED. [Chap. VII.
was killed while gallantly striving to save a wounded
sergeant.
The battle of Bloody Run, though fought by a
small force, was important in its results, and was
a remarkable instance of a continuous hand to hand
fight with Indians. The scene has now entirely
changed. The stream has disappeared, and no
relic is left but a huge tree riddled with bullets,
which has not yet been sacrificed to city improve-
ments.
The siege went on with various noteworthy
episodes, which have been described by able
writers, and which are too long in recital for this
sketch. In October, the besiegers began to dis-
appear ;' and Pontiac retired to the Maumee coun-
try, when he found the final treaty of peace was
signed between France and England, and that no
help could henceforth come from the French in
Canada. But he still cherished some plans of
mischief. The next year [1764] Bradstreet came
with a force and relieved the worn-out garrison.
He held a council with the Wyandots and other
tribes, and made a treaty, in which, by the fraud
or incapacity of the interpreters, they were made
to acknowledge an abject subjection to the Eng-
also found, and is the original family name, sometimes also called Dalziel.
In the days of the covenanters, one of their most savage foes was General
Dalziel or Dalzell, a veteran who vowed never to shave his beard after the
execution of Charles T., and who was as merciless as Claverhouse. Mrs.
Grant, of Laggan, who knew him, calls the officer who was killed at Detroit
Dalziel, and says he was related to the Dalziels of Carnwath. — Memoir of an
American Lady, Ch. 51.
» 7 N. Y. Doc, 589, et seq.
Chap VII.] WANT OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 131
lish, which they never dreamed of. Bradstreet
was a very unwise and arrogant negotiator, and
his conduct was not regarded with approval. Sir
WIlHam Johnson censured it severely in his Re-
ports, as calculated to offend the tribes. By this
treaty the land was ceded from Detroit to Lake St.
Clair.^
The importance of Detroit was now fully recog-
nized, and it was made the central point for all the
western interests. The want of some sort of ofov-
ernment was felt, and representations were re-
peatedly made by Johnson, Bradstreet, Croghan,
Governor Moore, Golden, and all interested in
American affairs. Dr. Franklin was also active in
England in laboring with the Board of Trade to
I 7 N. Y. Doc, 649, 650, 674, 678. No one can calculate how much of
the trouble between whites and Indians has come from the ignorance and ras-
cality of interpreters. If there is no one that can detect their errors, they
can and will make up such stories and give such versions as they choose,
without regard to accuracy, and represent each side to the other as saying
what is really colored or made up by the person whom each is obliged to re-
ly on. The French missionaries and the officers long in the country were
familiar with Indian languages, andweie seldom if ever imposed on. But the
sounds of the Indian languages cannot well be expressed by English forms,
and the English negotiators, and most of the Americans, have been com-
pelled to trust almost implicitly to their interpreters. Some of these, like
Joncaire, La Butte, Henry Connor and Whitmore Knaggs, were men of char-
acter and reliable. But many have been dishonest and ignorant. An in-
terpreter will seldom admit that he does not comprehend any phrase that is
used, and will always report something as dictated to him, whether truly or
falsely. These men, too, are very apt to soften down or leave out plirases
and charges that -are offensive, and put cnil speeches in their place. It is
evident this was done by Bradstreet's interpreter. Sir William Johnson, to
illustrate the danger of relying on such persons, tells an anecdote of an oc-
currence in his presence where when an English missicjnary gave out as his
text that there was no respect of persons with God, the interpreter rendered
it that God did not care for the Indians; and Sir William had to intervene
and translate the sermon himself. 7 N. Y. Doc, 970.
132 ROVAL PROCLAMATION. [Chap. VII,
establish governments there and elsewhere in the
west, but without success.'
As soon as the Treaty of Paris had been rati-
fied, the King of Great Britain issued a proclama-
tion for the orovernment ot the various French
possessions acquired by it. So much of Canada
as constitutes what was afterwards known as Lower
Canada, he established as the Government of
Quebec, to be governed in the first instance by a
governor and council, who were to establish courts
and tribunals to decide all cases as nearly as possi-
ble according to the laws of England, with an ap-
peal in civil causes to the Privy Council. When
circumstances should permit, an assembly was to
be called. Lord Mansfield was very indignant at
this action, as revolutionizing the whole laws of the
Province,^ and introducing a system unknown to the
people. Afterwards, in Campbell v. HalL [Cowper,
20^,) after four successive arguments, he decided
that, althoueh the old civil and criminal laws remain
until changed, yet the King, until Parliament should
intervene, had absolute legislative authority over
conquered countries ; but that by this proclamation
the sovereign had exhausted his powers, and could
not legislate further. This last proposition is doubt-
ful law, but it was followed immediately by the pass-
ing by Parliament, (whose power was beyond
cavil) of the Quebec Act, to be noticed hereafter.
The country west of Lower Canada, not ceded
by the Indians, was by this proclamation to be
I See N. Y. Docs., and Mills' Report, passim. 2 Mills, p. 190.
Chap VII.] MILITARY RULE. 133
left unmolested for their hunting grounds, and no
purchases were to be made from them except by
public treaty for the Crown. Trade was to be
open and free to all who desired licenses, under
such regrulations as mioht be established.
Provision was made for arresting and returning
all fugitives from justice to the colonies whence
they fled. There was to be no law or govern-
ment west of Quebec, except under military con-
trol.
As several cases had been decided in the
English courts against even governors of colonies,
who had. overstepped the laws to the prejudice of
citizens, the officers sent to Detroit before the
Quebec Act had a wholesome fear of prosecution,
and were generally very careful to keep within safe
bounds. The case of Governor Eyre, (Z. R, 6 O.
B. I. Phillips V. Eyre,) who was sued for his course
in the Jamaica troubles of 1865, anci exonerated by
a statute of indemnity, is the most recent attempt to
enforce such liabilities.
It is not generally understood by our people
that, after the war with Mexico, the Territory of
New Mexico remained under military government
until the territorial government was established
by the Compromise Acts of 1850; and that it had
a whole system of revised statutes, known as the
" Kearney Codey which were passed by no legis-
lature, and obtained their only sanction from the
general commanciing that country. The British
Parliament, at the time of the Treaty of Paris,
134 MILITARY RULE. [Chap VU.
was not much disposed to spend time In fostering
colonial interests, and roval colonies had not then
been more misgoverned than others. The Ameri-
can Congress, after the treaty with Mexico, could
not agree upon the territorial schemes before it.
As some government was needed, the military
rule, for the time being, was unavoidable, and
General Kearney adopted a system which was in
effect civil. But Detroit, before 1775, was not
governed by any system whatever, and the com-
manding general and his subordinates could do
as they chose. Their course was generally mod-
erate and reasonable ; and although the inhabit-
ants grumbled at the burdens laid upon them to
keep up the fortifications, there were no extor-
tions or peculations for private or doubtful pur-
poses, as there were In many posts under the
French control. Most of the British commanders
were honest a^nd reputable men, and obtained
respect and good will from the people in their
charore.
Bradstreet, with whatever deficiencies he may
be charged, had sense enough to discover that
Detroit was a point of much political as well as
military Importance, and needed some civil gov-
ernment. His desire was that English settlers
might be encouraged to come in, and that, whether
held under civil or military control, there should
be courts of justice established.'
I He wrote as follows : " All posts upon the banks of the lakes, from
Niagara upwards, to be under the control of the officer commanding at De-
CftAP. VII.] OPPOSITION TO SETTLEMENT. 13'^)
But the Idea, made prominent, that these were
important for the advantage and protection of In-
dian deahngs, and that Indians would resort to
them, was not very practicable.' Their necessity
for the whites was more apparent. The importance
of introducing more settlers was continually urged
by the well-wishers of the Province. But the
trade interests of Great Britain were as much op-
posed to encouraging American settlements as
any of the French intriguers had been, and the
future was not very promising.^
The distant officials were very vindictive against
the French settlers, and if their sentiments had pre-
vailed there would have been trouble at Detroit.^
But the gentlemen who were on the spot had
more wisdom than to create disgust among the
people with whom they were placed in intimate
and friendly relations, and who, when they found
their allegiance irrevocably transferred, demeaned
themselves quietly and amicably. Care was taken,
troit; and should Government judge it improper to establish a civil govern-
ment there, and not encourage the colony, still some court of justice is neces-
sary, to the end offenders, inhabitants, Indians, Indian traders and others,
might be brought to justice, and punished by a law that might prevent liti-
gious suits, and satisfy the savages that the strictest justice is done them. —
7 N. Y. Doc, 691.
1 7 N. Y. Doc, 641, 663, 668, 691.
2 "The colony of Detroit grows fast, and the inhabitants have great influ-
ence over the savages ; the removing them would occasion a general war
with the Indians, and to leave them as they now are will take a great length
of time before they become proper English, subjects." This hint is followed
by urging the introduction of British colonists — 7 N. Y. Doc, 693
3 7 N. Y. Doc, 579.
136
SCOTTfSH OFFICERS AND MERCHANTS. [Chap. VIl.
however, to appoint British agents in Heu of French,
over Indian affairs, and in the trade matters.
Lieutenant John Hay, (afterwards Colonel and
Lieutenant Governor,) was one of the first ap-
pointed ; and when Pontiac afterwards came in
and treated with the British, he specially requested
that Hay and Crawford should be retained in the
agency.
The Scottish officers and merchants became
favorites with the Indians, for reasons similar to
those which attached the tribes to the French.
Many gentlemen of good family, but narrow
means, came to America from the highlands and
west of vScotland, where the old feudal relations
had produced a habit of courtesy and kindness to
inferiors, and a disregard of any claims of wealth
alone to superior social consideration. These
persons, although sometimes high-tempered and
punctilious, were much more careful to avoid
giving offence to the Indians than some of their
English associates were. The subsequent history
of the country shows them to have had more
intimate relations with the French also. And when
the Americans succeeded to the possession of this
region, the Scottish merchants far outnumbered
all the rest, and there were found among them
representatives, and subsequent inheritors, of the
best houses in Scotland.'
I Angus Mackintosh, of Detroit, inherited the estates which belonged
to the old earldom of Moy, the earldom itself having been forfeited in the
rebellion against the House of Hanover. Being entailed upon heirs male
general, and the direct line failing, it was found that Angus Mackintosh
Chap. VII.] COURTS OF INQUIRY. 137
Bradstreet, while at Detroit, made military
appointments in the militia, and held courts for
the trial of persons who had favored Pontiac and
adhered to him durino^ the war. There were
probably no capital sentences, but such as were
convicted were banished. This was perhaps the
time when Cuillerier was condemned.
The courts, so far as we fmd any trace
of their proceedings, were called courts of inquiry,
and there is some reason for supposing they
were made up in occasional instances, if not gen-
erally, of a jury, instead of being confined to
military officers. There are some references
which indicate the use of a mixed jury of French
and English, after the fashion of the jury de
medietate lingiuie, formerly used for controversies
with aliens. Sir William Johnson refers to the
conviction of a trader by court of inquiry, for
using false weights, and it appears that he set
the Commander at defiance, and threatened him
with legal prosecution.' It was such occurrences,
and the uncertainty how far an officer could
safely go in punishing civil offenders, which led
to strong appeals from Johnson, and Governor
Moore, for some tribunals for dealing with crim-
inals in the country outside of the Quebec Gov-
ernment. The eastern colonies, acting on the
principles of the common law, could punish no
and Sir James Mackintosh were the two nearest of kin, the former being
one degree nearer than the latter. A claimant was also found for the
estates of Annandale, but unsuccessfully.
I 7 N. Y. Doc, 895.
138 SETTLEMENTS HINDERED. [Chap. Vfl.
offenders outside of their own borders, and mili-
tary law was very distasteful to English courts
and people.' There was much lawlessness among
the roving adventurers outside of the posts,"" and
especially about Mackinaw, which was for some
time after the massacre left without commander
or garrison. It was not restored till 1764 or 1765.
The Lords of Trade opposed any extension
of settlements, on the notion that the settlers
would become manufacturers, and the English
tradesmen would lose their market. The public
men who favored settlements, instead of exposing
the folly of using colonists as inferiors and con-
tributors of all their energies to serve the greedy
demands of home-abiding Englishmen, met the
arrogant claims by urging that new settlers would
enlarge instead of narrowing the market, and
could not furnish their own domestic articles.
The spirit that drove America into revolution was
manifest in the whole correspondence of the govern-
ment agents. Unfortunately there was an interest
in this country opposed to civilization. The fur
trade was still a power, and anything which drove
out the wild beasts and opened the land to cul-
ture was in the way of this powerful ministry of
barbarism. The early associated fur traders were
the worst enemies to improvement which this
region ever encountered; and in the sequel they
very nearly succeeded in changing our political
destiny. But the natural disposition of British
X 7 N. Y. Doc, 877, 895. a 7 N. Y. Doc, 871-2.
Chap. VII.] LANDS SOUGHT FOR. 139
and Americans to seek their fortunes in new
countries was not to be repressed. Although not
numerous, settlers came in by degrees as soon
as the end of hostilities made it safe ; and in
1767, and probably sooner, there were found in
Detroit persons of British birth and descent
whose families and descendants are well known
there. From the beginning of the occupation the
Commandants were beset with applications for
lands, and they were compelled to give per-
mission to occupy, although they could do no
more. It had been customary for the French
Commandants, w^ith or without the ratification of
the Governor or commanding general, to dispose
of lots of land w^ithin the fort and adjacent
domain, although Mr. Navarre, in 1767, stated
that the power did not exist in the domain.'
But grants of land for farming purposes were
within the control of the authorities at Quebec,
and the action of the Commandant at Detroit
was nugatory unless confirmed. The Indian title*
had not been given up, except east of the fort
to Lake St. Clair, and a trifling distance west.
The Royal Proclamation distinctly forbade private
Indian purchases.
In 1765, when Colonel John Campbell was in
command, George Croghan held a council at
Detroit, where eighteen Indian tribes were repre-
sented, and was more fortunate than Bradstreet
in getting their confidence. Croghan was the
I I St. Papers.
140
INDIAN CONCESSIONS. [Chap. VII.
ablest British acrent that ever dealt with the
Indians In the Northwest. On this occasion he
persuaded Pontlac to enter Into friendly relations
with tlie British, and the grant to Dr. Anthon
previously mentioned, made at this council, was
probably the first Indian grant made in this region
to any one.' It was not good within the letter
of the King's proclamation, but such grants made
In treaties have generally been respected, and
while this was by separate deed, it was very
likely one of the means whereby the chief was
conciliated. The suggestions he made to appoint
as agents persons in whom he had confidence,
were deemed worthy of consideration by vSIr
William Johnson, and It would have been a very
cheap privilege to allow him to give away his
own lands to a British officer and surgeon, who
had earned his gratitude. There were, however,
many dealings with the Indians for private grants,
which were connived at or openly favored by later
Commandants, without any color of right.
It appears Incidentally that the Inhabitants of
Detroit had been regularly taxed to keep up the
forufications. In 1765, when Colonel Campbell
was expecting to leave, a remonstrance was sent
to him against these taxes as oppressive. The
burden, however, does not seem to have been a
new one. Not long after, a subscription was
made by the traders and others, to put the fort
I At the same time, or within a tew days, Pontiac made several
other grants in the same vicinity, all four arpents by eighty.
Chap. VII. J EARLIEST JUDICIAL COMMISSION. 141
and stockade in complete order. In 1766, a
receipt is found for three pounds York currency,
on a farm outside the fort, levied by Colonel
Campbell for lodging troops/
In 1765, Philip Le Grand appears to have been
acting as justice of the peace, and notary, proba-
bly appointed by Bradstreet. He seems to have
held the office for several years. In 1776, he
acted in a matter where Philip Dejean was inter-
ested. He could not have clone much except
when the latter could not act, and there are
some indications that Dejean was expected by
General Gage to practically supersede Le (}rand.
The common law powers of a justice did not
extend to the trial of causes, but only to the
examination and committal of offenders.
In 1767, we find the first steps taken to pro-
vide for the administration of justice. On the
24th day of April, 1767, Captain George Turnbull,
of the 60th or Roval American Reo^iment, Com-
mandant of Detroit and its Dependencies, issued
a commission to Philip Dejean, merchant in
Detroit, of a somewhat peculiar and comprehen-
sive character, which ran as lollows :
"I do hereby nominate and appoint you jus-
tice of the Peace, to Inquire into all complaints
that shall come before you, for which purpose
you are hereb)' authorised to examine b)' oath
such Evidences as shall be necessary that the
Truth of the matter may be better known; Pro-
I Wayne Records.
142
SECOND JUDICIAL COMMISSION. TChap. VII.
vided always that you give no Judgement or final
award but at their joint Request, and which by
bond they bind themselves to abide by, but
settle the Determination of the matter by Arbi-
tration, which they are likewise to give their
bond to abide by, one or two persons to be
chosen by each ; and if they cannot agree and
have named Two only you name a third, and if
Four, a fifth, and their Determination or award
to be approved by me before put in Execution.
I further authorise and Impower you to act as
chief and sole Notary and Tabellion, by drawing
all wills Deeds &c, proper for that Department,
the same to be done in English only, and I also
appoint you sole Vendue Master for such sales
as may happen here, in the usual and accustomed
manner. Given under my hand and seal at
Detroit this 24th day of April 1767." (signed)
Geo. TMrnbidl.
On the 28th day of July, 1767, Robert Bayard,
major commanding, gave him a further commission,
as follows :
"Whereas it has been represented to me by
the Trading People and others reciding at Detroit
that some Tempery form of Justice for the recovery
of Debts &ca, was become absolutely necessary,
and having taken this matter into consideration,
and finding the utility of such an Establishment,
I have accordingly granted them a Tempery Court
of Justice to be held twice in every month at
Detroit, to Decide all actions of Debts, Bonds,
Chap. VII.] JUDGE DEJEAN INVESTIGATED. 143
Bills, Contracts and Trespasses, above the sum
of Five Pounds' New York CWcency, . and.
confiding in Philip Dejean for his uprightness
and Integrity, I do hereby nominate and appoint
him the second Judge of the said Court of Jusdce
at Detroit. Given under my hand and seal at
Detroit, the 28th day of July 1767. "(Signed)
''Rob* Bayard, Major' Comm-< at Detroit. To Philip
Dejean Esq^''-'^
The first judge was doubtless the Commandant,
who always retained control of affairs.
Major Bayard at the same dme established a
fee-bill, approved by a committee of citizens. Mr.
Dejean, of whom we shall hear further, was a
merchant who had been unfortunate in his busi-
ness. Within the next year he seems to have
given occasion for complaints — apparently tor
extordon. But for some reasons not apparent —
(although from his after life it may be assumed
it was a peculiar influence at head-quarters) no
one dared to come out openly and oppose him.
On the 28th of May, 1763, at Dejean's request,
Captain Turnbull called a court of inquiry, "in
consequence of complaints made against him,"
who reported that they, "having Duely heard and
carefully examined into the Grievances set iorth
by the said Philip Dejean Esq^'^' are of opinion
First, That the Fees established by the Committee
appointed by Major Robert Bayard on the estab-
lishment of the Court of Justice at Detroit are
« Twelve dollars and a half.
144 DEJEAN APPROVED.
[Chap. VII.
just and reasonable and ought not to be less.
Secondly, That evry Prisoner confin'd in the
Guard House, whether for Debt or Misdemeanor,
shall on his being sett at Liberty, pay One Dol-
lar, and evry Batteau or Canoe arriveing here
loaded with Merchandize belonging to any Person
or Persons not possessing in Property any Lot
or Building within this Fort, shall pay Two
Dollars, and the monies ariseing from thence to
be aply'd as in the time of the French Govern-
ment to keep in Good and sufficient Repairs the
Fortifications around the Town, as will more
fully appear in our former Petition to Capt" Turn-
bull for that Purpose. Thirdly, No Person
having appear'd before us to make any Com-
plaints against said Philip Dejean with respect to
his publick office, we are of opinion that they
were ill-founded and without cause." This is
signed by yaines Sterling, Colin Andrews, T.
Williams, Will"^ Edgar, John Robison, Eustache
Gamelin, P. St. Cosnie, y. Cabacier, Cicote, T.
M oiler c, A. Bar the.
It would seem that some movement was on
foot to remove Dejean, as on the 26th of May
a very brief certificate, whereby the signers "do
vote for and unanimously approve of Philip
Dejean to be Judge and Justice of the District
of Detroit and its Dependencies " was signed
by thirty-three persons, of whom five were
French, and the rest English, Scotch and Dutch.
On the 13th of June, 1768, a petition in French
Chap. VII ] MISCONDUCT OF ROGERS. 145
was drawn up addressed to General C}age, and
signed by twenty-five signers, to the same effect,
the principal reason given being that Dejean
" understands both English and French, and is
therefore much better able to decide the difficul-
ties which may arise between the ancient and
new subjects* of His Britannic Majesty." General
Gage did not disturb the appointment.'
About this time a court of inquiry was held
to pass upon Bellestre's title to several lots in
Detroit, and he appeared before them and estab-
lished his claims.^
Meanwhile Mackinaw had been re-established.
In 1766 complaints were made that affairs were
not going on properly there. The next year
evidence was obtained that Robert Roeers, who
was sent there in 1765, was intriguing by lavish
presents and otherwise to get influence with the
Indians, for the ultimate purpose, as was then
supposed, of getting a separate colony or other
establishment for his own emolument. He ob-
tained the means by drawing large drafts which
were not honored, and became involved very
heavily, and completely demoralized the savages.
He was afterwards charged with having meditated
surrendering Mackinaw to the French or Spani-
ards, and was taken down to Montreal under
arrest, and as some say in irons, and tried by
court mardal. He could not have been convicted
^ Wayne Records, A , 35. 2 Id., B., 128.
10
146 SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF ROGERS. [Chap. VII.
of treason, for he was soon afterwards at large,
and went to Algiers and entered the service of
the Dey.
The narrative of his doing^s at Mackinaw, as
given by the depositions which led to his arrest,
shows that he must have had some designs
inconsistent with honesty as well as loyalty, but
it is difficult to say just what they were. A letter
was intercepted from Colonel Hopkins, (who
appears to have been well acquainted in Detroit,
but through some discontent or other cause to
have entered the French service,) urging Rogers,
in a vague way, to gain over the Indians, and
offering to use influence, if he should desire it, to
get him employment from France. But the
writer was evidently desirous of having the
American colonies independent, and urges Rogers
to strive for that ultimate end.' The letter is
one of the earliest writings looking towards
American independence. Rogers was unquestion-
ably a dishonest and selfish adventurer, who was
inordinately ambitious and unscrupulous, and his
course gave much uneasiness to the British
authorities. It is not likely he determined his
course by any standard but his own profit or
advancement. When the Revolution opened he
played a double part, professing patriotism ; but
as the Americans had no faith in him he joined
the British and obtained a colonel's commission,
I 7 N. Y. Doc, 988, 993. 8 N. Y. Doc, 36
Chap. VIT.I MINES ON LAKE SUPERIOR. 147
but never distinguished himself, and passed into
utter obscurity.'
The British Ministry, in March, 1768, wrote
very strongly to Sir William Johnson in regard
to both Rogers and Chabert cle Joncaire, as dan-
gerous and treacherous men, whose conduct
revealed the necessity of " the utmost circumspec-
tion and attention of His Majesty's servants in
America, as In the present state of some men's
dispositions in that country, when one corres-
pondence of that dangerous tendency is discovered,
there is reason to apprehend there may be more
of the same kind."^
The recent cession to Spain of the French
possessions on the Mississippi very naturally sug-
gested the danger of dealings by the discontented
colonists with Spain. The idea of any independ-
ent resistance was not at that time familiar in
England.
The Lake Superior country at this time
assumed a temporary importance. Alexander
Henry, on his second journey, examined the
mineral country, which had been known long
before to the French, though not worked. In
1768, Hillsboro' informed Sir William Johnson
1 He raise! a corps of American Tories called the Queen's Rangers,
and after he went to England (about 1777) he was succeeded in it? com-
mand by Simc(je, who was afterwards Governor of Upper Canada, nnd
bitterly hostile to the United States. — See Caimiff's Scit'cnicut oj Upper
Canada, /. 71.
2 Hillsboro' to Sir W. Johnson, 8 N. Y Doc, 36.
14 8 MINING ON LAKE SUPERIOR. [Chap. VII.
that an application had been made for a grant
of all the lands within 60 miles of Lake Superior,
and desired him to report on the subject.' His
report has not, it is believed, been published, but
Henry seems to have gone on his second expe-
dition to explore for copper, and was probably in
the scheme. He visited the east shore of the
lake, and examined Michipicoten and Caribou
Islands. At Point Iroquois, on his return, his
companion, Mr. Norburg, of the 60th Regiment,
found a semi-transparent blueish stone of eight
pounds weight, which, on assay, produced sixty
per cent, of silver. It was deposited in the
British Museum. A mining company, consisting
of several noblemen and other prominent men,
including Sir William Johnson and Alexander
Henry, opened a mine on the Ontonagon River,
and did some work ; but the inconvenience of
access and other difficulties led to its abandon-
ment. The great copper boulder" which Henry
had visited in 1 766, and from which he had cut
with an axe a piece weighing 100 pounds, was
the attraction which led to the enterprise. It
was an object of superstition among the Indians,
who never disturbed articles left on it.
1 8 N. Y. Doc, 92.
2 This was about thirty years ago taken to Washington by Julius
Eldred, of Detroit, and it is now in the possession of the Government.
Several masses much larger have since been taken from the mines, but
this is the largest mass ever found as a boulder at a distance from any
mining ground.
Chap. Vll.] CONDITION OF TttE SETTLEMENTS. H9
As no such grant was ever set up afterwards,
and as the Indian title was not extinguished till
within the last forty years, it is probable nothing
was obtained beyond a license. The ideas of
these early speculators were not limited by mod-
erate bounds. The tirst attempt to get access
to the mines in our day was in 1822, when a
company of persons in New |ersey sought to get
a grant of 40,000 acres of the same lands, to be
selected in parcels and not in one tract, at a
rent to be fixed at that time.' The proposition
was not accepted.
The Mackinaw settlement was long without
any great importance. The post had become less
valuable than in the clays of the French. At
Detroit, although some of the people had gone
westward, there was a steady but slow increase,
and the inventories of estates show that domestic
animals were abundant. By confounding the
estimates of the people within the fort with those
of the settlement, some confusion and apparent
contradictions have arisen. The settlement, as
early as 1774, extended on both sides of the
river, for several miles above and a few miles
below the fort. Although no Indian land grants
were lawful, vet as before mentioned, several were
connived at. The Potawatamie village and
cemetery, then below, but now within Detroit,
were conveyed by that tribe to Robert Navarre
the younger, and Isidore Chene, on the charge
» 4 St. Papers, Pub. Lands, 341.
150
AFFAIRS AT DETROIT. [Chap. VII.
that the several grantees should dwell there and
care for the dead. The Navarre sale was approved
by Major Bassett, in 1772. That to Chene was
sanctioned by Lieutenant Governors Hamilton (in
1776), and Sinclair (in 1781.)' In 1774, Major Bas-
sett, on the complaint of the inhabitants that their
lands were encroached upon, appointed James
Sterling to survey them, and directed that his sur-
veys should be conclusive. The people, since the
Pontiac war, had not been disturbed, and many who
had before lived in the fort were now dwelling on
their estates.
The King's Receiver collected the same dues
which had before accrued to the French Govern-
ment for annual rents and fines of alienation.
Captain Turnbull in one case (and very likely in
others) commuted the dues of a farm four arpents
wide for '" six slay loads of wood, French measure!'
The traiiieau, drawn by one pony, usually held
about one-third of a cord, so that this made about
two cords, in lieu of one bushel of wheat, and four
livres, two sols, cash or peltries.''
The cammission de grand voyer (road commis-
sioners) had charge of roads and bridges, and
apportioned the taxes for their support. Where a
bridge was a private charge, it was allowed to re-
lieve the owner from other bridge taxes to the
amount of its expenses. ^
In spite of their increasing prosperity, the British
refused to give the people any government.
I Wayne Records, A., 256-7. » Id., 116. 3 Id., 158.
Chap. VII. J OPPOSITION TO COLONIES. 151
Although Johnson and Shelburne, as well as others,
had urged it, and the two Franklins were unwearied
in their efforts, the Board of Trade setded down
upon the selfish course which was so soon to arouse
resistance in all the English-speaking colonies.
Their whole policy was " to prevent manufactures."'
This they thought '' would not be promoted by these
new colonies, which being proposed to be estab-
lished, at the distance of above fifteen hundred miles
from the sea, and upon places which, upon the
fullest evidence, are found to be utterly inaccessible
to.shipping, will, from their inability to find returns
wherewith to pay for the manufactures of Great
Britain, be probably led to manufacture for them-
selves." They meet the argument that such colon-
ies will raise provisions, in this way. ''The
present French inhabitants in the neighborhood
of the lakes, will, in our humble opinion, be suffi-
cient to furnish with provisions whatever posts may
be necessary to be condnued there ; and as there
are also French inhabitants settled in some parts of
the country, lying upon the Mississippi, between the
Rivers Illinois and the Ohio, it is to be hoped that a
sufficient number of these may be induced to fix
their abode, where the same convenience and
advantage may be deriyed from them. ^' •"•= *
The setdements already existing, as above described,
which being formed under military establishments,
and ever subject to military authority, do not, in our
humble opinion, require any further superintendence
I Mills, 30.
152
QUEBEC ACT. [Chap. Vll.
than that of the miHtary officers commanding at
these posts."'
The necessity of conciHating that part of the
Province which was well settled, and had been
before under laws and civil institutions, led to the
enactment, in 1774, of the Quebec Act, whereby,
ostensibly, the whole country was to be assured
these privileges. It was delusive everywhere, and
the Historian Garneau finds a lack of words to
express his indignation at the course pursued under
it.^ By our Declaration of Independence it was
denounced as unfavorable to libertv. If the Detroit
colonists heard of it, it was but as a distant rumor
of something which did not affect them. No news-
papers then circulated in the Province, and the
Michigan colonists, perhaps, would not have seen
them if they had existed. Nevertheless, stirring
times were approaching.
I Mills, ^2. » Garneau, passim.
CHAPTER VIII.
.^r MICHIGAN UNDER BRITISH LAW.
In 1774, an act was passed by the British
Parliament, commonly called the Quebec Act, by
which the entire British possessions west of New
York, north of the Ohio, and east of the
Mississippi River, were incorporated into the
Province of Quebec, and made subject to its
government. The laws of Canada, as they had
been in force before the Conquest, were nominally
made the rule of decision in civil matters, and
the English law in criminal matters; and this has
been quite generally supposed to be the scope
and chief design of the statute. If this had been
so, the strong condemnation of this Act in the
Declaration of Independence would have been
exaggerated. It is there described as an act
" for abolishing the free system of English laws
in a neighboring province, establishing therein an
arbitrary government, and enlarging its bounda-
ries, so as to render it at once an example and
a fit instrument for introducing- the same absolute
rule into these colonies."
Although this statute was smuggled through
the House of Lords, and urged in the Commons,
as an act of justice to the Canadians, it was
154 QUEBEC ACT. (Chap. VIII.
contrived and really intended to prevent settle-
ments in the colony, and discourage Englishmen
from going there, by depriving them of the
benefit of English law, both civil and criminal.
Hillsborough and Thurlow had combined to resist
all new settlements, and when Franklin had at
last succeeded in obtaining the consent of the
council to establish a colony south of the Ohio,
Thurlow contrived to prevent the sealing of the
order/ When the Quebec Act was sent down to
the House of Commons, the course of the Minis-
try was such as would not be tolerated in
modern times. Burke, Colonel Barre, Fox, and
many other distinguished men, opposed it bitterly.
But, before discussing its provisions, calls were
made on the Government for information and
documents in the public offices, and tor the
official opinions of the law officers of the Crown
on various matters laid before them. This
information they failed to get. The law officers
who were summoned before the House refused
to make any disclosures, on the ground that
their opinions belonged to His Majesty. Dr.
Marriott, the civilian, not only refused to make
disclosures of the tenor of his official reports, but
treated the other questions put to him in a
strain of impertinence not often parallelled. The
opposition succeeded in correcting a few defects,
and in procuring for the inhabitants a right to
make wills according to either English or French
law. But beyond this they had no success.
1 5 Bancroft, 47.
Chap. VIII.] QUEBEC ACT 155
The Statute, while estabHshing nominally the
Canadian and English law, as furnishing rules of
decision in civil and criminal cases respectively,
made no attempt to determine what were to be
deemed the old laws of Canada, although there
had been much dispute upon that subject. Chief
Justice Hay, of Canada, who was a witness before
the House, admitted he knew nothing about the
French law ; and when an objection was made
to the act that it put all the existing judges out
of office, it was answered by an assurance that
they would be continued. The whole legislative
power was put in the hands of the Governor,
(and in his absence the Lieutenant Governor or
Commander-in-Chief) and a council of not less
than seventeen nor more than twenty-three, all
appointed by the Crown, whose acts might be
reviewed by the King in council. All the ordin-
ances of the Province, whether under French or
British authority, were annulled.* No provision
was made for a future assembly, except as a
possibility. Ordinances of the new legislative
board extending imprisonment be3^ond three
months were to require the Royal approval, but
there was no limit to .the imposition of fines or
forfeitures. No provision was made for the
regulation of courts, which were left entirely at
the pleasure of the King, to create* and regulate
as he chose. An attempt to introduce a right to
the writ of habeas corpus was opposed by the
Ministry, and defeated. The claim that a repre-
156 QUEBEC ACT. [Chap. Vlll.
sentative legislature should be introduced, was
resisted on the orround that there were less than
o
four hundred Englishmen in the Province, and
that although the French population had become
numerous, the idea that they should have any
such civil rights was preposterous. They were
spoken of as if they had no claim to be regarded
as British subjects, but only as a conquered peo-
ple holding all their privileges by favor. When
Lord Mansfield was attacked by Lord Camden
for his course in sustaining the bill, as incon-
sistent with his former advocacy of the rights of
the Canadians, he practically recanted his old
assertions, and went all leno-ths with Thurlow.
Mansfield, with all his ability as a judge, was no
friend to freedom. The House of Lords, on the
return of the amended bill from the Commons,
was compelled to listen to Chatham and Camden,
who with sound law and manly eloquence
denounced the atrocious measure, and were
answered with nothing better than the impudent
audacity ot men who cared nothing for colonial
liberty, or fior any human rights beyond the four
seas. Even Ireland was pressed into the service,
to show that Canada was treated in the same
way, and that there were already places under
the control of the Government where the writ of
habeas coTp7is was denied.
It was soon made manifest that Canada was to
be governed by unmixed Royal prerogative, and
used to annoy the other colonies. The control of
Chap. VIII. j PETITIONS AGAINST THE QUEBEC ACT. 157
Indian affairs was taken awa)- entirely from the
English-speaking colonies, and centred in Quebec.
Judges were appointed who had no knowledge of
French law, and the Governor and Council showed
no desire to supply the deficiencies of the Act. Sir
Guy Carleton, afterwards Lord Dorchester, was
much respected, but not calculated to manage civil
reform.
Within a few months repeated protests and peti-
tions came to Eno^land from the British and French
people of the Province, but when they reached
official custody they were laid aside without notice.
When Lord Camden presented such a petition
in the House of Lords, he was much abused lor
doing so, and the Lords on the Government benches
admitted that they had received and suppressed
such documents, and insisted he had no right to
introduce it. Chatham and Camden labored zeal-
ously for the repeal of the Quebec Act, and claimed
that its mischief had now become palpable. But
they failed, and their bill was defeated, after a hard
fight in both houses. It is stated that an intimation
was given to the petitioners, (who especially de-
manded an assembly and habeas corpus,) that the)'
might have what they chose if they would allow the
principle to be maintained that Parliament had an
unlimited right of legislation over the colonies.
This principle apparently was not manifest to the
petitioners. In the original Quebec Act, as it went
down to the Commons, the right in the colonial
authorities to levy any taxes whatever was pro-
158 LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR FOR DETROIT. [Chap. VITJ.
hibited. In the Commons an amendment was ob-
tained, allowing the council to impose such taxes as
the inhabitants of the various local districts should
vote for roads, buildings, and other local purposes ;
but this was all.
It is a matter worth recording that at the head
of the Quebec committee on the principal petition,
which was signed by nearly every leading person of
British origin in Quebec and Montreal, stands the
name of Zachary Macaulay. This patriotic gentle-
man, from his peculiar name, must have been a
kinsman of the able man who afterwards became
one of the principal supporters, if not the origina-
tor, of the movement against the slave trade, and
was a friend and counsellor of Clarkson and Wil-
berforce, and the other " wise men of Clapham,"
who were always on the side of free institutions.
The fame of that second Zachary Macaulay has
been overshadowed by that of his eminent son,
Lord Macaulay, the historian. His relationship to
the Quebec merchant is not known.
Although in the lower parts of the Province,
where the settlements were more dense, the system
of government assumed an external appearance ot
legal formality, no attempt or pretence was made to
relieve the western region from martial law. A
lieutenant governor was sent to Detroit, who had
almost, if not quite, absolute authority. Henry
Hamilton was first appointed in that capacity, and
he arrived at Detroit in 1775. The old system was
to terminate May i, 1775. It was not till 1788 that
Chap. VIII.] COURTS ESTAnUSHED l^.Q
any courts whatever were established in Upper
Canada. In that year, on the 24th of July, Lord
Dorchester, by proclamation, created four districts
in Upper Canada. The District of Hesse embraced
all the country west of Long Point, on Lake Erie ;
and as Detroit was still retained in British posses-
sion, it came within the jurisdiction of that district.'
The courts were called Courts of Common Pleas,
being courts of record, with a clerk and sheriff
Their jurisdiction was plenary, with no appeal unless
to the Governor and Council.
These judges were not bred to the law, as there
were no lawyers in Upper Canada until 1794. They
were generally men of wealth and influence, and in
civil matters their judgments were probably just.
They knew nothing of criminal law, and banished,
imprisoned, whipped or pilloried, such unlucky cul-
prits as were convicted before them. It is errone-
ously stated by Canniff that the first person hanged
in Upper Canada was convicted before fudge Cart-
wright, of the Mecklenburg District.^ The honor
(or dishonor) of that judicial exploit belongs to
Judge Dejean, although there were perhaps some
court-martial capital convictions before.
These lay officials of all ranks in the remote
districts magnified their office. The Wisconsin
annals contain many curious anecdotes of one
Reaume, who in early dmes had a commission as
justice of the peace at Green Bay, which is said
(perhaps incorrecdy) to have run through various
' Canniflf, 506. 2 Cannifi; 50S.
160
ROUGH JUSTICE. [Chjlp. VIII.
regimes without renewal, and to have served as a
support for judicial powers at discretion. An an-
cient settler,' in his reminiscences, speaks of it as
rather creditable to Judge Reaume, that he never
inflicted capital punishment. In emulation of the
great Oriental potentates, but lacking a signet, he
summoned parties before him by sending his jack-
knife, in lieu of process ; and no one who saw the
symbol ventured to disobey. His judgments were
also Oriental. Where specific duties had been
violated, he granted specific performance. In other
cases, he served the ends of justice by requiring the
party or parties in fault, (for sometimes he gave
judgment against both,) to furnish him a supply of
wood, or work in his garden. As, during his long
term of service, he was within the jurisdiction of
Michigan, we can safely claim the fame of this
worthy magistrate for our own glory, whereof pars
magna fuit. He has not been without followers in
our State county courts, when for a few years the
Law Reformers assumed the mantle of Jack Cade,
and tried causes by the light of nature. A very
upright magistrate of this stamp, some twenty-five
or thirty years ago, having a culprit before him,
charged with larceny, of which there was no
proof, deemed it his duty, nevertheless, to convict
him ; because, though innocent of the charge in
question, he had committed depredations on the
judge^s woodpile, and thereby disturbed the peace
and dignity of the State of Michigan.
I Grignon's Narrative.
Chap. VIII.] COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. I6l
The Common Pleas Judges of Detroit were
usually educated and intelligent gentlemen, whose
decisions received and deserved respect. It was
not remarkable that such of them as were of
F'rench extraction, and entirely ignorant of British
law, should commit blunders and exceed their
powers. These latter have not generally been
guilty of intentional wrongs, but it w^as a long
time before they had the means of knowing any-
thing about legal matters, and under martial law
they went very far.
The first Judge of Common Pleas for the
District of Hesse was the Honorable William
Dummer Powell, whose reputation has not been
questioned. He was appointed in 1789, and
assumed his functions in 1790. It is supposed
the office had been declined by some previous
appointee,' (conjectured to have been W'illiam
Robertson,) as all the other judges, and the clerk
of Hesse, were appointed in 1788. Gregor
McGregor of Detroit was appointed by Lord
Dorchester sheriff, and Thomas Smith of the
same place, as clerk and commissioner of the
peace, on the 24th day of July, 1 788, the day
when the districts were created.^ Thomas Smith
according to General Cass, w'as in 1 794 captain
of a company of militia associated with the Indians,
when Wayne routed them before the British fort
at Maumee, and was killed in that battle.^
I Canniff, 507. 2 Wayne Records, C.,380. 3 Cass, Historical Lecture.
11
162
DELAY IN CIVIL GOVERNMENT. [Chap. VIII,
The court held its first session in 1790, and
an execution sale of lands (an innovation on the
common law) was made by Sheriff McGregor,
under a judgment rendered in August, 1790/
But this is anticipating. Until the action of
the Governor General, in 1788, the Detroit settle-
ment and its dependencies, including all the
western posts, remained without any civil govern-
ment. Although the preamble of the Quebec
Act gave as a reason for its enactment the fact
that, under the King's Proclamation of 1763, there
were several colonies and settlements which had
been left without any provision for civil govern-
ment, neither the act itself, nor the administration
under it, made any approach toward such a
provision, until five years after the Treaty of
Peace of 1783 had rendered the retention of
possession of Detroit by the British a wrongful
and arbitrary usurpation.
Accordingly we find Mr. Dejean continuing in
his old functions. As he kept the public records,
any new appointments would probably have been
recorded as carefull)- as the old ones. He was
evidently one of those men who had qualities
which made him useful, and possibly gave him
the means of securing himself against opposition.
In October, 1774, he used the public records in
his custody to perpetuate an apology from George
Meldrum,^ for some abusive language used by the
I Wayne Records, C, 380. 2 Id., A., 278.
Chap. VIII.] LEGAL FORMALITIES 163
latter at a public assembly, and for which he
declared his regret as having been the result of
intoxication. What the particular charges were
which the wine unloosed, does not appear, nor is
anything said of their falsehood, but it is plain
it was not safe to offend Mr. Dejean.
In March, 1775, occurs a curiousTTtlstration
of the limits of his judicial powers under his old
commission to the presidency of a board of
arbitration. One Francis Milhomme was charged
by John Peck with having stabbed him in the
stomach. Thereupon James Sterling, John Porteous,
(British merchants,) and Duperon Baby and Benoit
Chapoton, (French citizens,) were chosen arbi-
trators, but did not agree. William Edgar, having
been made umpire, gave his opinion, to which the
rest assented, that Milhomme " do pay unto the
said John Peck sixty Pounds New York currency,
and give such security for his future behaviour
as the Commandant may think proper." Mr,
Dejean then, as justice of the peace, took
Milhomme's recognizance with sureties, to keep
the peace and for his good behavior, reciting
that he was then detained in prison for the
offence. The instrument is drawn up in French,
but is an exact and formal recognizance, answerino-
precisely to the best precedents. Dejean had
evidently a good knowledge of legal forms, and
although, perhaps wisely, he paid no attention to
that part of his commission which directed him
to use the Enorlish lanoruao^e, he was well enoug-h
164 RESTRAINT OF LIQUOR SELLING. [Chap. VIII.
qualified, so far as intellis^ence went, for his
position. His records of depositions and legal
entries, as well as his conveyances, show him to
have been thoroughly educated. There must have
been some good reason undisclosed why such a
man was confined by the earlier commandants to
the business of a conservator of the peace, and
allowed no broad powers. So long as Detroit
remained subject to the rule of the commanding
ofificer, before the Quebec Act, there was nothing
made public to indicate that Dejean had done or
could do anything seriously out of the way. The
commanders did not venture to trust his discretion.
In the beginning of June, 1775, for some
reason or other, the merchants of Detroit found
it necessary to take steps themselves to prevent
the sale of rum to the Indians, and they adopted
very stringent rules to bind themselves, and to
keep others from transgressing. James Abbott,
James Sterling, Alexander Macomb, and John
Porteous, were appointed a committee to enforce
the rules. A penalty of three hundred pounds
York currency was imposed for any infraction.
All questions were to be settled by arbitration,
and the committee were empowered to distrain
property to enforce the award. The whole matter
was carefully kept out of the courts.
*
The arrival of the Lieutenant Governor made
a change in various ways, and the few circum-
stances which have come to light during this
period show unmistakable evidence of a more
Chap. VIII.] ARBITRARY ACTION. 155
arbitrary system. The Boston Port Bill which
changed the government of Massachusetts, and
that for trying American offenders in England
and depriving them of trial by a jury of the
vicinage, were introduced with the Quebec Bill,
and as parts of one scheme. The Ministry had
inaugurated a period of high prerogative. Ham-
ilton came out prepared to be as tyrannical as
circumstances might require. Although Detroit
was not within reach of communication with any
of the EngHsh common-law setdements, it com-
manded the whole Indian country, and he was
ready to use any means to hound on the Indians
against the American malcontents. In December,
1775' appears the first and apparendy the only
case where any one in the setdement came under
suspicion of disloyalty, and the subsequent exper-
iences of this gendeman seem to show that, while
he was probably loyal enough, in the proper
sense, it was not safe in Detroit to be very plain
spoken. Garret Graverat, (a name very familiar
to the old residents of Michigan,) one of the
Albany traders who setded in Detroit, was, in
December, 1775, compelled, (so far as appears
without any complaint or showing,) to give bail
m four hundred pounds sterling, conditioned that
he "does not correspond with, carry intelligence
to, or supply any of his Majesty's Enemies, nor
does anything Determental to this setdement in
Pardcular, or against any of his Majesty's good
subjects, during the space of one year and one
166 CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. [Chap. VIIl.
day," &c. The form of this document is not
equal to Dejean's own recognizances, although
nominally taken before him, and it is very com-
prehensive and open to dangerous construction.'
On the 1 8th of March, 1776, a transaction
took place which has been much discussed, and
was certainly peculiar. It shows Dejean going
very much beyond his old commission, and it has
been assumed as the act of an ignorant and
mulish magistrate, incited or favored by a lieutenant
governor, careless of law and propriety. Facts
recently discovered, and not before published,
show that the proceeding was not a hasty one,
as it was not one done in ignorance. How far
they divest it of its supposed atrocity cannot be
so easily determined. It is evident there is much
in its unwritten history yet unknown.
On that day a mixed jury of twelve persons (six
English and six French) found a special verdict, in
the form of an inquest, convicting a Frenchman
named Jean Contencinau, of stealing furs from Ab-
bott & Finchley, (a commercial firm in Detroit) and
Ann Wyley, a negro slave, of stealing or being
accessory to stealing a purse of six guineas
from the same, found on her person. They
were both tried for attempting to set fire to
the house of Mr. Abbott, but as to this the jury
were not satisfied, although they said the circum-
> The narrative of Mr. Dodge, of his treatment at Detroit during the
Revolution, by Hamilton and Dejean, places them in a very unfavorable
light.
Chap. VIII.J PRISONERS HANGED. 167
Stances were very strong against the prisoners. Up-
on this verdict Dejean sentenced them to be hanged
on the Domain, and this sentence was carried out a
few days afterwards. Dejean's address to the pris-
oners has been preserved, and is pubhshed, with the
verdict, in Lanman's History.^ There is one serious
error in the translation, which represents him as
stating Ann Wyley was "accused" of the crime of
steahng, whereas she was found by the jury to have
been "accessory" to it, and doubdess this is what
the judge said. It is said that Carleton and the
Chief Justice proposed, when they heard of this
execution, to have both Hamilton and Dejean ar-
rested and taken to Quebec for trial. If so, the
stirring times probably interfered to prevent it, for
both remained in Detroit more than two years un-
molested. Sir Guy soon left his office for military
duty, and was succeeded by Haldimand.
Recent searches have brought to light the result
of two preliminary examinations of Contencinau
held by Dejean as justice of the peace ; and it
appears that, instead of being a summary proceed-
ing, nearly a year and a half elapsed between
examinadon and trial, and a much longer time
between the commission of the offence and the
conviction. And it also shows either that the ex-
aminadon was unfair, (and this does not seem
likely) or that some of the tesdmony failed before
the trial. Ann Wyley made no confession — or at
least signed none. Contencinau signed two, or
1 Pages 133, 134, 135.
168
EXAMINATION OF THE PRISONERS. [Chap. Vlll.
rather affixed his mark. At the second, Captain
LernoLilt, the commanding- officer, was present, and
certified that the statement was read to the prisoner
in his presence, and he confessed to its several
articles. From this confession it would appear that
on the 24th of June, 1774, Ann Wyley, who was a
domestic slave of the house, gave Contencinau a
cartridge to use in setting fire to the house. He
took it and wrapped it up with more pow^der in a
linen cloth, and when the family were at dinner put
it on a shelf and fired it, and then carried off the
money-box and gave it to Ann. That evening she
gave him several dollars in specie and bills, and also
handed him the casket to burn, which he did. He
and one Landry both confessed to stealing furs, and
Contencinau admitted stealing some knives. Jane
Wassenton, (Washington,) a soldier's wife, testified
to havinor various articles left with her on false
pretexts by both Jean and Nancy, and that
the latter, in sendino- a lot of soiled linen for
the wash, included some of Jean's shirts, in a
pocket of one of which she found a green
purse containing six guineas, which Jean claimed
he knew nothing about, and charged Nancy
with concealing there. The last examination was
November 2, 1774. The evidence was enough to
put the respondents on trial. The only explanation
of the delay is that no one was authorized to try a
prisoner for a capital felony, and Captain Lernoult
probably did not care to venture on exercising" or
conferring such a power. Under the Quebec Act,
Chap. VIII.] PROCEEDINGS BEFORE TRIAL. 169
the offence could have been punished, If there had
been any court, or any ascertained venue, tltit
Detroit was unattached to any county, and there
were no courts. The delay of a year, from the
spring of 1775 to that of 1776, was too long to be
accounted for, except on the idea that Hamilton
either consulted the authorities at Quebec, or sought
light from some quarter. As both he and Dejean
were both afterwards within reach of civil and
criminal jurisdiction, and not only were not prose-
cuted, but Hamilton was made Governor General
of Canada, it may be doubted whether the state-
ment of their intended arrest was not erroneous.
The trial was apparendy a fair one, and the jury did
not convict of arson which was made out on the
examination. If there was any irregularity, (although
Ann Wyley could not technically have been held on
such a finding,) it did not go to the general merits ;
and the jury was made up of the best citizens of
Detroit. The punishment was according to our
notions beyond justice, but it was in accordance
with the spirit of the laws of England. Dejean's
address was humane and temperate. It seems
difficult to believe that after su'ch long delays he
would have ventured upon an act which he had
shrunk from before, without some assurance of its
legality or some powerful prompting ; and the case
was not otherwise one of public concern. Of course
the act was illegal, and both he and the Lieutenant
Governor were liable to punishment for it.'
' The appointment by the Crown of a special trial commission, would
have involved creating auxiliary local officers and magistrates, which would
170 DEJEAN A PLURALIST. [Chap. VIIL
There is, on the other hand, full reason to regard
h(m as implicated with Hamilton in his various
official transactions, and he was evidently a favorite
and confidant, and probably a very accommodating
one. He was made Secretary to the Lieutenant
Governor, and given the only remaining lucrative
post in the settlement — that of King's Receiver ; so
that he was at once justice of the peace, judge,
notary, auctioneer, recorder, receiver of moneys,
and private secretary. A man must have been very
virtuous, or very subservient, to get control of all the
paying public business of the post ; and events
showed that Mr. Dejean felt safest with his patron.
There is very little of interest to be learned con-
cerning the Michigan settlements during the
revolutionary period. Under the illegal Indian
grants, which the commandants had found it neces-
sary or desirable to sanction, (as their own were
usually much larger than those of private citizens,)
settlements crept slowly along the great water-
courses, reaching the St. Clair River to the north and
the Raisin on the south. Several grants were made
by the commanders at Mackinaw, on the mainland,
and on Bois-blanc Island. Grosse He and Hog
Island, in Detroit River, were granted — the former,
with some smaller islands near it, to Alexander
Macomb, and the latter to George McDougall.
The sentiments of the French settlers towards
Great Britain were in general loyal. They had no
have given permanent civil government. While this was promised by the
implications of the Quebec Act, it was not intended by the Ministry to be
fulfilled.
Chap. VIII.] FRENCH INHABITANTS. 171
intimate relations with the American colonies, and
had never been in the enjoyment of such civil rights
as made the British rule irksome, merely because
despotic in form. There were other grievances
which they felt heavily, but which did not form any
peculiarly close bond of sympathy with their Amer-
ican neighbors. The old war with France on this
continent was conducted effectively by American
troops, and there had been for a long time a jealousy
between Canada and the other colonies. One im-
mediate object of the Congress at Albany, in 1754,
was to furnish more effective protection against
French hostilities. But the evident disregard of
England for the feelings and customs of the Cana-
dians, the cruel treatment of the Acadians, and
the haughty insolence which for many years
after the conquest the original settlers of Cana-
da had encountered, as if they had no rights in
the country, did not fail to dampen their attach-
ment for their new sovereignty, although it failed
to excite them to rebellion. The greatest evil of
the French colonial system was its complete
centralization. Nothing was left to people or com-
munities ; and however desirous the settlers mio-ht
o
have been to assert themselves, they lacked those
habits of organization which from inheritance and
usage were instinctive in British and American so-
ciety. They were brave and manly, but they had
not learned to make their own leaders. Their dis-
content impelled them as a body to nothing more
dangerous than neutrality, and when they went into
1/2 SENTL\iENTS OF THE PEOPLE. [Chap. Vtlt.
the military service at all, it was not strange that
they enlisted under the British flag and fought- with
spirit. Some care seems to have been taken at
Detroit to conciliate Frenchmen of influence, and
commissions in the militia were given to prominent
citizens. There was no period during the Revolu-
tion when any success worth mentioning attended
the efforts of the Americans to conciliate the
French Canadians, except in Kaskaskia and Vincen-
nes, although a close alliance was kept up with
France, and many natives of that country were
found in our own army as well as amone the auxil-
iaries. The British residents, as is not unusual in
colonies, were more bitter and vindictive than any
other portion ot the King's subjects. If there were
any American sympathizers in Detroit, their names
have not come down to us ; unless Garret Graverat
was one, which is not altogether unlikely.
Both governments saw from the beginning
the importance of Detroit. As the influential
centre of all Indian affairs, whoever occupied it
controlled their movements. The settlement of
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, by Americans, was sure
to lead sooner or later to a control over the
remainder of the Northwest. If the Americans
secured their independence, those countries, if
settled at all, would become American States.
Ihe British could only secure their dominion
in this region by preserving it as a wilderness.
The plan was early adopted of depopulating so
much of the western country as was settled by
Chap. VIII.) BRITISH AND INDIAN ALLIANCE. 173
Americans, and of keeping off inhabitants by
rendering it unsafe for them to go there. I JeUber-
ately and remorselessly the plans were laid to
excite the Indians to indiscriminate slaughter, and
from 1775 to 1814 the tribes were urged on and
stirred up by British commanders or emissaries
against the American settlements. Men who
were usually reasonable and humane in their own
transactions, felt no compunction against inciting
the savages to the worst cruelties; and gentlemen
and scholars paid rum and money to their brothers
in ferocity for the scalps of women and children
slain at their bidding. There are names that no
American borderer has yet learned to speak,
without finding it hard to restrain a malediction.
The Lieutenant Governor of Detroit controlled
all the western posts. At that time the next in
importance was Mackinaw. Kaskaskia and
Vincennes were the only two remaining points of
prominence. Rocheblave, a Frenchman, com-
manded at Kaskaskia, and Lieutenant Edward
Abbott at Vincennes.
The well-known polic)- of the British Ciovern-
ment, which drew forth the eloquent invectives of
Chatham and many other statesmen, was accepted
by Hamilton without hesitation or reluctance, and
he readily offered to assume the office of setting
on the savages. He gained their adhesion and
aid by the usual methods, and found about him
emissaries enough to help him. Several raids
were made upon the settlements in Ohio and
174 CLARK'S CAMPAIGN. [Chap. VIII.
Kentucky, till at length George Rogers Clark
set out from Virginia, and began to change the
face of affairs. It was not long before he captured
Kaskaskia by surprise and without bloodshed, on
the fourth of July, 1778. Rocheblave was taken
to Virginia tas a prisoner of war. His wife
contrived to conceal or destroy his papers. The
French people of Kaskaskia, after having their
fears excited by apocryphal stories of the ferocity
of the Long Knives, and expecting the fate of
their Acadian kinsmen, were agreeably surprised
at meeting very friendly and cordial treatment ;
and Clark's judicious management secured their
attachment. By their means Vincennes surrendered
without a struggle ; and the hostility of the Indians
in that quarter was quieted.
The news of this mishap caused some excite-
ment in Detroit, and Hamilton began preparations
for raising a force to reconquer the country. He
finally set out early in October, and Major De
Peyster, commanding at Mackinaw, sent out Lan-
glade to go to the head of Lake Michigan and rouse
up the Indians. Hamilton reached Vincennes about
the middle of December. At this time, by reason of
General Mcintosh's failure to do what was expected
of him. Captain Helm and one soldier made up all
the garrison. As the army approached it, Helm
planted a loaded cannon in the gateway, and refused
to surrender without the honors of war, which were
granted, and the garrison of one officer and one
private marched out accordingly. Hamilton now
Chap. VIII.] ATTACK ON BOONE 175
dismissed his Indians for the winter, intending in the
spring to organize a large expedition and sweep
the borders.
An expedition against Detroit had been planned
the same summer, but it was broken up mainly by
the delays of General iMcIntosh. At the same time
predatory excursions went out from Detroit. Isi-
dore Chene (a Detroit Frenchman, and an adopted
chief among the Indians,) set out with a few Cana-
dians, and a large body of savages, on a marauding
expedition, which was conducted in the usual
fashion. In August they appeared before Boones-
borough, and demanded a surrender. Boone had
just returned from an Indian captivity. In February,
1778, he had been taken by the Indians to Detroit,
and had been kindly treated there, but the Indians,
who had taken a fancy to him, refused to let him be
ransomed. Remembering this, Boone was inclined
to place some confidence in Chene's promise of fair
treatment, and agreed to meet him with eight com-
rades outside of the fort, but under cover of his
garrison's guns. After terms were made, the
Indians treacherously endeavored to seize Boone
and his associates, but the marksmen shot down the
leaders, and they crot back safelv throuo-h a cross-
fire into the fort, from which the assailants, after a
siege of ten days, and such a waste of ammunition
that the garrison picked up 125 pounds of their bul-
lets, retired with considerable loss.
Clark, having learned Hamilton's plans, did
not wait for spring, but started for Vincennes on
176 HAMILTON CAPTURED AT VINCENNES. [Chap. VIII.
the 7th of February, with 1 76 men, partly French
volunteers. The country was almost impassable,
and no thought of clanger entered the mind of
the Governor. On the 23rd of February, Clark,
whose men had marched several miles throu^-h
water, appeared before the town and began the
attack. It was kept up until the next morning,
with no loss to the Americans, who kept well
under cover, and, being good marksmen, picked
off the gunners through the ports. At nine on
the morning of the 24th, Clark demanded an un-
conditional surrender, in very explicit and not al-
together civil terms. Refusing to grant a truce,
he agreed to meet Hamilton at the church, about
eighty yards from the fort, who came there with
Major Hay. Clark through this interview adhered
to his demands, and gave as a reason, when
asked, that as the principal Indian partisans from
Detroit, including Major Hay, were with Hamilton,
and as their course had been so atrocious, he
would on no account give up the right to deal
with them as he saw fit. The capitulation was
made that afternoon. Clark during the parley
had become more favorably impressed with
Hamilton, and consented to better terms. A few
days thereafter, a company from Detroit of forty
men under command of Mr. Adhemar, with
supplies and despatches for Hamilton, was captured
on the Wabash. Dejean was with them, having
gone, it is said,' to obtain means of justifying
himself for his judicial excesses before mentioned.
I C. I. Walker's Address.
Chap. VIII.] HAMILTON AND HIS FRIENDS IN IRONS. 177
Thomas Williams was 'acting in Dejean's
offices of justice and recorder in March, about
the time of his capture, probably by appointment
of the local commander, but if Dejean was under
censure — possibly from superior authority.
A part of the prisoners were discharged
on the usual terms, and returned to Detroit.
Hamilton, Hay, Dejean, (who figures as Grand
Judge of Detroit,) Lamothe, an officer in the
Indian Department, and Jonathan Schiefflin, with
a few others, were taken to Virginia. Hamilton,
Hay, Dejean and Lamothe, were put in irons. The
rest were paroled. The severity exercised towards
the former, was because they had been especially
responsible for Indian atrocities, and had offered
rewards for scalps instead of prisoners. Governor
Jefferson and the Virginia Legislature refused to
exchange them or mitigate their treatment, which
Washington admitted was richly deserved, although
he urged its relaxation on other grounds. Finally
they were released from their irons, and Lamothe
and Dejean having given the somewhat stringent
parole demanded of them, (which General W^ash-
ington said was the same required of our officers,)
were allowed to go to New York. Dejean rtevet
came to Detroit again. Hay and Hamilton, after
holding out a long time, finally gave their parole
also, and were released. Hamilton said afterwards
that this imprisonment continued twenty-two
months.'
^ Wayne Record, C , p. 392.
12
178
NEW FORT. Dh PEYSTER ARRIVES. [Chap. VIII.
During Hamilton's absence in Vincennes, the
fort at Detroit was in command of Major R. B.
LernoLilt, (sometimes erroneously written Le Noult,)
who, anticipating an attack from below, built a
new fort on the rising ground then called the
second terrace, (between Griswold and Wayne,
Congress and Michigan Avenues,) which remained
until about 1827. This was called Fort Lernoult,
until the Americans changed its name to Fort
Shelby.
Major De Peyster, of Mackinaw, sent out in
the spring of 1779 a second expedition to join
Hamilton in Illinois, but his capture foiled it, and
that country remained in American hands there-
after. Had it not been for this, the boundary
might have been fixed at the Ohio instead of the
lakes.
De Peyster was sent to Detroit to succeed
Hamilton, but was not made Lieutenant Governor.
The only others who held that title were Patrick
Sinclair, De Peyster's successor at Mackinaw,
and John Hay. From this time on, although the
forays continued with unabated fury through the
Revolution, the Indians were encouraged to bring
in live prisoners.
Major Arent Schuyler De Peyster, who came
to Detroit in 1779, was a man of some distinction,
and although on some occasions very arbitrary,
was undoubtedly a good officer. In one respect
his course was open to criticism. The largest
number of Indian grants ever made at one time
Chap. VIII.] De PEVSTER. 179
during the legitimate British possession, were
made in July, 1 780, soon after his arrival ; and
the largest one of those (of 5,000 acres) was
made to himself Many years afterwards he
relinquished it to a nephew, but it was so plainly
illegal that it was not respected. He also made
some large concessions of public property without
legal right, to Captain Bird and others. From
the numerous indications of his character, appear-
ing in records and elsewhere, the general inference
is favorable. He had some literary pretensions,
was a bon vivant, patronized liberally the card-
parties, balls and assemblies, and was very happy
in his domestic relations, though childless. On
occasion he performed the duties of chaplain, and
in that capacity married Thomas Williams (father
of Gen. John R. Williams) to Miss Cecilia Campau, *
on the 7th of May, 1781. John Kirby, of Grosse
Pointe, was baptized by one of the commanding
officers, and this is said not to have been an
uncommon occurrence. Whether Major (then
Colonel) De Peyster performed this rite also does
not appear, but it is quite likely. In many respects
one is reminded, in considering him, of a modern-
ized and slightly toned down Baron of Bradwar-
dine. In his latter days he retired to Dumfries,
where, in 1796, he commanded the volunteers
among whom Burns was enrolled, — the "awkward
squad" whom he did not wish to fire over his
grave. Very kindly relations existed between the
veteran and the poet, * who addressed and dedi-
180
DePEYSTER. TChap. VIII.
cated one of his latest poems to his old friend
and commander.
He was unquestionably arbitrary in his official
dealings, but probably no more so than his own
predecessors, who did pretty much as they pleased.
In the summer of 1783, upon the application of
one Cuyler, who came on from the east to collect
a claim of Garret Graverat, De Peyster com-
pelled the latter to turn over to Cuyler more
than ten thousand dollars worth of furs and other
property belonging to the firm of Graverat
& Visgar and their late partner Colin Andrews,
under duress of being sent down immediately by
boat to the lower country. Graverat, to prevent
the ruin of his Detroit business, submitted ; but
entered a formal sworn protest on the public
records. As De Peyster, when he retired, went
abroad, there was no opportunity to hold him
responsible in the American or colonial courts ;
but it was an atrocious act of tyranny, done with-
out even a hearing, and with profane threats
unbecomiho^ an officer. As the existence of the
treaty of peace must have been known before
this time, and the exercise of extreme and sum-
mary violence was as much against English as
against American law, such conduct can only be
accounted for on personal grounds ; and the ex-
planation must probably be found in Graverat's
being obnoxious to the commander. If he was an
American in feeling, the success of the American
arms, and the annexation of Michigan to the
Chap. VIII.] BIRD'S EXPEDITION. 131
United States, might very naturally have embit-
tered such a fierce loyalist as De Peyster ao-ainst
him.
In 1778 there is a record of quite as summary
an order by Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, stop-
ping the sale of a negress whose ownership was
questioned, and sending her to Rocheblave at Kas-
kaskia to have the matter examined, instead of
having it tried in Detroit.
In 1780, Captain Bird's famous expedition set
out southward, and among other depredations, des-
troyed several Kentucky setdements. This was
organized at great expense, under orders of Gen-
eral Haldimand, who had succeeded Sir Guy
Carleton in his command of the Province. The
expenses of outfit at Detroit alone were nearly or
quite $300,000. Bird found it difficult to restrain
the Indians, who made complete work ; and it is
supposed that motives of humanity induced him to
suspend going further. The inhabitants were made
Indian prisoners, and stripped of all their posses-
sions. In August, 1784, Bird, in selling a mulatto
woman, warranted his title by stating that at
Martin's Fort she was among the booty captured by
the Indians, and- given to him afterwards by the
captors.
This expedition was accompanied by Detroit
militia, commanded by Chabert De Joncaire, Jona-
than Schiefflin, Isidore Chene, and others.
This aroused great excitement in the United
States, and various plans were proposed to send
182 MORAVIANS IN MICHIGAN. [Chap. VIII.
expeditions under Brodhead and Clark to capture
Detroit. Clark was very anxious to undertake it,
but the invasion of Virginia by Cornwallis suspend-
ed these side issues, and nothing effective was done.
During the various Indian expeditions, and
other frontier warfare, there had been some diffi-
culty in keeping all the tribes contented under
the British control, and all sorts of expedients
were resorted to, in order that this might be
secured.
Not long before the Revolution, David Zeis-
berger, an eminent Moravian missionary, with
Heckewelder and some others, founded missions
on the Muskingum at Schonbrunn, Lichtenau and
Gnadenhutten, and the converts, particularly among
the Delawares, were numerous. Colonel Alex-
ander McKee, Matthew Elliott, and Simon Girty,
made repeated attempts to induce these Indians
to join the British and fight against the Amer-
icans, but without success. The Detroit Hurons
were no more successful in their efforts to per-
suade or frighten them, although the Delaware
chiefs were wavering. The English agents
persuaded Governor Hamilton that the mission-
aries were acting as spies in the American
interest, and he became very much incensed, and
made threats, which the emissaries used to influence
the chiefs against them. One of the chiefs, Cap-
tain Pipe, was at last cajoled into declaring for
the English, and the tribe became divided. When
De Peyster was in c'ommand, Elliott persuaded
Chap. VIII.] MORAVIANS AT DETROIT. 183
him, by representations that Captain Pipe had
denounced the missionaries, to send a force
under ElHott to capture them and bring them
in. After much suffering, they reached Sandusky,
whence Captain Pipe was to bring them to
Detroit. During this whole journey they com-
plained especially of the affronts and injuries
received from Simon Girty. Pipe being on a
drunken frolic, the missionaries started for
Detroit ahead of him on the 25th of October,
1 78 1. The winter was early, and the country
through the Black Swamp, and round the head
of the lake, was nearly impassable ; but after
much labor and exposure they reached Detroit.
Their reception by De Peyster was very
ungracious, and he put off their hearing for sev-
eral days. They were kindly sheltered by Mr.
Tybout, a French inhabitant, and received atten-
tion and courtesies from others. On the 9th of
November, they were confronted with Captain
Pipe before the Commandant, when the chief
expressed himself very bitterly concerning the
manner in which he had been urged on by the
English to join them, and completely denied all
the stories against the missionaries, who had
studiously avoided any conduct which could favor
either side, and had endeavored to preserve the
Indians from hostilities. De Peyster was finally
satisfied, and thereafter was very kindly disposed
and aided them liberally. Having returned to
Sandusky, they were subjected to renewed threats
184 NEW GNADENHUTTEN. [Chap. Vtll.
and indignities from Girty. De Peyster sent
word to bring them back to Detroit, but to treat
them kindly; and in April, 1782, they came back
under escort. The Commandant told them he
had taken this course for their safety, and offered
to give them means of returning to the central
mission at Bethlehem, or to allow them to remain.
They decided to remain, if they and their
flock could settle near Detroit. By arrangement
with the Chippewas, dwelling on the Clinton (then
known as the Huron) River, about twenty miles
northeast of Detroit, they fixed their colony near
the mouth of that stream, a few miles from Lake
St. Clair. De Peyster contributed such outfit as
they needed of utensils and provisions, with some
horses and cattle, his estimable lady also adding
other useful presents. The Church of England
"Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts " sent them a draft for one hundred
pounds sterling, which was a very timely gift.
On the 2 1 St of July, 1782, Zeisberger and Jung-
man, (married missionaries with their families,)
and Edwards and Jung, (unmarried missionaries,)
with some white families, including that of Rich-
ard Connor, and several Indian converts, reached
their new refuge, and solemnly in prayer conse-
crated it to the service of the Lord, under the
name of Gnadenhutten, in memory of their old
home on the Muskingum. It was usually called
New Gnadenhutten. In August they had com-
pleted a village, consisting of a street of block-
Chap. VIlI.] COLD WINTER. 185
houses with substantial outbuildings. De Peyster,
(now colonel) was an active friend, and Governor
General Haldimand also befriended them. On
the 5th of November, 1782, they opened their
new church. In 1783, the sugar crop was large,
and the people, white and red, were enabled by
their hunting and manufacture of wooden wares,
to keep themselves supplied with all they needed.
On receiving news of the peace, which reached
them in May, they endeavored to gather in from
Ohio more of their Indians, and succeeded quite
well in doinor so.
By a mistake in the kind of corn which they
had planted, they lost that crop by early frosts.
The next winter of 1783-4 was one of the
severest on record. The ice on Lake St. Clair,
a mile from shore, was three feet two inches
thick, and the snow five feet deep. The winter
of 1874-5 resembled it more closely than any
year within living memory. The deep snow
interfered with hunting, and the ice with fishing.
The winter was a trying one, but they succeeded
in getting a large quantity of venison from a
herd that strayed into the neighborhood, and
with the surplus of this they purchased corn. In
the spring they made sugar, and caught an abund-
ance of fish, and, when the snow melted, gathered
quantities of cranberries. Detroit furnished a
ready market for all they could spare.
A straight road had been run for their accom-
dation from Tremble's mill, on Tremble's (now
186 GOVERNOR HAY. [Chap. Vlll.
Connor's) Creek, to the Moravian village, thus very
much shortenino^ the otherwise longr and round-
about lake shore road. This was the first inland
road made in Michigan.
In May, 1784, they came to Detroit to bid fare-
well to Colonel De Peyster, who was about depart-
ing, and who commended them to Governor Hay,
(Hamilton's companion,) who had just been sent
out to take charge of the post. Hay had recently
been in England, where the case of the mission-
aries had received attention, and he had been
directed to encourage them. As this was a year
after the peace, and before any serious controver-
sies, it indicates pretty clearly the insincerity of the
British Government in regard to their treaty obli-
gations to quit the post.
Governor Hay died the same summer, having
had no time to make any mark on the settlement.
His character was respected. He left a family
of three sons, one of whom, Henry Hay, be-
came an * officer in the British Army, and was
stationed at Detroit in the last British com-
mand. The writer Was many years ago informed,
by a family connection of Governor Hay, that his
remains were first buried behind and near the
Chateau or Governor's House, on the corner of
Jefferson Avenue and Griswold Street, and after-
wards removed by the informant to the new ceme-
tery, established in 1827, and placed in the Catholic
portion of that ground. That cemetery has now
been vacated, and probably there has been another
removal.
Chap. Vltl.] DEPARTURE OF THE MORAVIANS.
187
Major William Ancrum succeeded to the com-
mand. By this time the Moravian town had become
a neat and pleasant village, well laid out and sub-
stantially built, with considerable clearings. The
Chippewas, however, were getting tired of agri-
cultural neighbors, and the setders determined to
move to some other place. They went from New
Gnadenhutten to the south side of Lake Erie,
whence, in 1 790, a large number moved over into
Upper Canada, and settled on the Thames River,
near the battlefield where Harrison defeated Proc-
tor, in 18 1 3. Richard Connor and his family re-
mained behind, and kept their farm. His sons,
Henry, William and James, became prominent
citizens. Henry Connor was a noted interpreter,
(known as Wabishkindibe, or White Hair,) in
whom Indians and whites placed implicit confidence,
which he fully deserved. He was a very upright
man.
In 1788, Ancrum and John Askin, who had been
kind to the missionaries, and who claimed to have
purchased out their rights for a sufficient considera-
tion, obtained from the Chippewas a grant of
24,000 acres, including 'the Moravian town and a
large tract besides. Askin subsequently testified
that there were more than twenty houses and their
outbuildings, and that the Moravian road had been
built by himself and Ancrum, with some help from
the Moravian Indians. Askin and his son, with
one John Cornwall, obtained also a Chippewa
grant of twenty-four miles long by two leagues
188 REMOVAL OF FORT MACKINAW. [Chap. VIII.
wide, Including that road, and a league in breadth
on each side of it. These grants were made after
the treaty of 1783, and were in violation of the
British and American laws, and were disallowed.
Connor and some neiofhbors were confirmed In their
claims to single farm holdings, as actual settlers.
After Patrick Sinclair went to Mackinaw, and
toward the close of the Revolution, he made prepa-
rations for removing the fort from the main land to
the Island of Michillmackinac, for which he obtained
the consent of the tribe of Chippewas in occu-
pancy. The new fort was occupied in 1783.
By the preliminary treaty of peace of Novem-
ber 30, 1782, It was unconditionally agreed that
" His Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient
speed, and without causing any destruction, or car-
rying away any negroes, or other property of the
American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, gar-
risons and fleets from the said United States ; and
from every part, place and harbor within the same ;
leaving in all fortifications the American artillery
that may be therein ; and shall also order and
cause all archives, records, deeds and papers be-
longing to any of the said States, or their citizens,
which In the course of the war may have fallen Into
the hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored
and delivered to the proper States and persons to
whom they belong." And by further articles It
was, January 20, 1783, agreed that In all places
without exception, (unless when a shorter term was
specified,) five months should be the utmost term of
Chaf. VIII. J FORTS RETAINED BY THE BRITISH.
189
hostilities, or for the validity of hostile acts. Notice
was received in Detroit in May, 1783, if not earlier.
The final treaty of September, 1783, recognized
and adopted ■ the preceding- action from its original
date.
General Washington was persuaded, and de-
clared from the first, that the British Government
were not acting in good faith in this matter. In
August, 1783, when Baron Steuben was sent to
Governor General Haldimand to demand posses-
sion of the western forts, he was not only refused,
but was not even permitted to visit them ; and the
Governor declined in any way to facilitate or ex-
pedite the business. His course towards Steuben
was reported by the latter as uncivil. He wrote to
General Washington a letter, respectful in form, in
which he excused himself for the refusal on the
ofround that he had received no orders from His
Majesty. New York was evacuated on the 25th
of November, 1783, and the Continental Army was
disbanded. Great Britain never notified the
Governor of Canada, or any one else, to give up
the western posts, and they were retained, in spite
of protests and remonstrances, until the breaking
out of the French Revolution, and the prospect of
further wars, made it expedient to surrender them.
But during nearly all this period, and especially
from 1 786, the emissaries of Great Britain were
busy in keeping up a hostile feeling among the
Indians in the Northwest against the Americans.
There were, in 1786, and thereafter, some mutual
190 VIOLATION OF TREATY. [Chap. VIII.
grounds of complaint for alleged violations of the
treaty, but none in 1783, '84 or '85, that were set
up as solid pretexts for retaining the posts. There
can be no reason to doubt the conclusion of General
Washington, that the mother country meant to
speculate on dissolution, and to retain the unsettled
country and western forts if she could. In 1 784, it
would seem, however, that the Canadian Governor
may possibly have expected to be compelled to
comply with our demands ; as he removed the pub-
lic records from Detroit to Quebec, where they
were retained until Lord Dorchester, in 1789, sent
out Judge Powell to establish a court. At this lat-
ter period, it seems to have been assumed that the
United vStates would be compelled to submit to
losing the posts. That removal of records was in
direct violation of the treaty, and the records so
removed were never put in American custody until
the present decade, when they were partially res-
tored, (as far as found,) by order of Her Majesty's
Government. The responsibility of the British
authorities for the intentional and unprovoked re-
tention of the posts does not rest on surmise. On
nearly every occasion when attempts were made to
treat with the Indians, they represented they could
not act without the consent of the Detroit Com-
mandant. When Brant went to England, after the
formation ol his confederacy in 1785, he asked an
explicit assurance that the British would stand by
him, which Lord Sidney, the Colonial Secretary,
evaded, but did not discourage. John Johnson, the
Chap. VIII. J BRITISH AND INDIAN DEALINGS. 191
Indian Superintendent, on his 'return, gave him that
assurance in writing, and impressed upon him very
strongly not to allow the Americans to come into
the country, or to approach the posts, saying: "It
is for your sakes, chiefly, if not entirely, that we
hold them." -''■ -^ "By supporting them, you encourage
us to hold them, and encourage the new settlements,
already considerable, and every day increasing
by numbers coming in, who find they cannot live in
the States." Lord Dorchester was more explicit,
and speaking through Captain Mathews, whom he
sent to command at Detroit, he expresses regret
that the Indians have consented to let the Ameri-
cans make a road to Niagara, but, notwithstanding
this blameworthy conduct, the Indians shall never-
theless have their presents, as a mark of approba-
tion of their former conduct ; and then proceeds :
" In future his lordship wishes them to act as is best
for their interests. He cannot begin a war with
the Americans because some of their people en-
croach and make depredations upon parts of the
Indian country ; but they must see it is his lord-
ship's intention to defend the posts, and that while
these are preserved, the Indians must find great
security therefrom, and consequently the Americans
greater difficulty in taking possession ot their
lands. But should they once become masters of
the posts, they will surround the Indians, and ac-
complish their purpose with little trouble." '•'' ••' ■•• " In
your letter to me, you seem apprehensive that the
English are not very anxious about the defence
192 SCHEMES TO RETAIN MICHIGAN. [Chap. VIII.
of the posts. You will soon be satisfied that
they have nothing more at heart, provided that
it continues to be the wish of the Indians,
and that they remain firm in doing their part
of the business, by preventing the Americans
from coming into their country, and conse-
quently from marching to the posts. On the
other hand, if the Indians think it more for their
interest that the Americans should have possession
of the posts, and be established in their country,
they ought to declare it, that the English need no
longer be put to the vast and unnecessary expense
and inconvenience of keeping posts, the chief
object of which is to protect their Indian allies, and
the loyalists who have suffered with them.'
The proofs are abundant that the British
depended on the Indians to keep the Americans
from approaching the forts to get possession, and
that this was not done for any claims of violated
treaty, but because they desired to retain the
western country and its trade for their own pur-
poses.
In 1 784, as before mentioned, a new lieutenant
governor was sent out to Detroit, and in 1789 it
was brought under partial civil government.
This was also, if we may credit the information
received from our diplomatic agents in England,
in pursuance of a definite plan whereby Lord
Dorchester was vested with enlarged powers.
I Stone's Brant, iii , 271.
Chap. VIII.] CANADA DIVIDED. 193
During the period of unlawful possession, there
was apparently no restraint put on the acquisition
of Indian grants, and, unless the chiefs were
ubiquitous, it appears in some cases as if no par-
ticular care was taken to be sure of their identity.
Congress had at once, upon the peace, prohibited
any such purchases.
Very few facts of local interest are noted
within the next few years. The Ordinance of
1787, which furnished a wise constitution for the
territory northwest of the Ohio, did not become
practically operative in this region until the
Americans gained possession. Before that time,
although no laws passed after the treaty could
attach except for the time being, yet, so long as
the country was held by Great Britain, all trans-
actions were governed by the law of the pos-
sessors.
In 1792, Quebec was divided into Upper and
Lower Canada ; and Colonel John Graves Simcoe
was made Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada,
the Governorship General covering both divisions.
The Quebec Act, so far as it applied to Upper
Canada, was repealed, as well as all legislation
under it abrogated. Upper Canada was made a
common law country, and trial by jury was intro-
duced in both civil and criminal cases.
«
Simcoe, who had commanded during the
Revolution the Oueen's Ranorers, a reo-iment of
American tories, first raised by Rogers, and
13
194 BORDER DIFFICULTIES. [Chap. VIII.
somewhat noted for their cruelties, took no pains
to conceal his sentiments. The Upper Canada
Legislature established permanent courts in the
regular way at Detroit and Mackinaw, as posts
of the Province. In 1 789, provision was made
for orantine lands in the Province to American
refugees, and the region lying east of the Detroit
River and north of Lake Erie was largely
settled by Dutch tories from New York. The
result was to excite among the Americans who
afterwards settled in Michigan a fierce animosity
against that class of their neighbors, which was
of long standing. In regard to the other British
people, the feeling was more kindly, except as to
the Indian agents and emissaries, who were never
forgiven for their share in the massacres of the
Americans.
The results of St. Clair's disastrous defeat in i 791
rendered it more difficult to treat with the Indians,
and their depredations were multiplied. It became
evident that, unless some peaceable arrangement
could be made, the American people would be
obliged to resort to effectual measures to put an
end to these scenes. The western people had
desired again and again to be allowed to take mat-
ters into their own hands. But in this troubled
period the Governor General, Lord Dorchester,
and the Lieutenant Governor, Simcoe, went
great lengths in urging on the Indians, and
both evidently believed that the time was at
hand when Great Britain would regain the whole
Chap. VIII. J WAYNE'S CAMPAIGN. 195
Indian country. Negotiations with the Indians
having failed, General Wayne began his effective
campaigns. Simcoe not only favored the sav-
ages, but built a fort in 1794 at the Maumee
Rapids, and garrisoned it with regular British
troops. Wayne arrived in the neighborhood in
August, and on the 20th defeated the Indians and
their -alHes, driving them under range of the
guns of the fort, and destroying Colonel McKee's
stores, and everything else of value up to its very
walls. The post commander took no part in the
batde, and the Indians were very much incensed at
such cold support. Wayne could not, under his
orders, attack the fort, unless assailed, and the
British officer in charge had similar orders. Gener-
al Wayne went as far as he could to induce that
gendeman to attack him, but without effect. The
Indians were, however, aided in the fight by a body
of Canadian militia, under Colonel Baby ; and Sim-
coe, McKee, Elliott and Girty were not far off. In
September these four persons held a council at
Maiden to prevent a peace, and to induce the
Indians to cede their lands to the British ; promis-
ing that the latter could then guarantee their pos-
session, and join in a general attack which would
sweep the country clean of Americans. Although
this was aided by presents, and other inducements,
the Indians were divided, and many of them com-
plained that the British had urged them on into
ruinous wars, and had not helped them.
January 29th, 1795, the tribes made a prelimin-
196 TREATY OF GREENVILLE. INDIAN GRANTS. [Chap. VIII.
ary treaty of peace at Greenville, with General
Wayne. They appointed the next June, at the
same place, for the final treaty. The conferences
lasted through July, all of the chiefs giving and
receiving full explanations, and laying the previous
hostilities to the encouragement of the British
authorities. The treaty was signed on the third of
August.
In November, 1 794, a treaty had been executed
between Mr. Jay, as American Minister, and the
British Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Lord Gren-
ville, whereby it was agreed the posts should be
given up on or before June i, 1796. News of this
reached the country in due time, and at once a last
effort was made to render it abortive. In 1783, the
Northwest Fur Company had been organized to
control the fur trade, not reached by the Hudson's
Bay Company, and the Detroit traders were all
interested in keeping the country, as far as possible,
unsettled. All of Michigan away from the Detroit
River and the Island of Mackinaw, was a wilderness,
and so was the adjacent belt of country in northern
Ohio and Indiana. Between the treaties of January
and August, grants, or pretended grants, were
obtained to Jonathan Schiefflin, Jacobus Visgar,
Richard Pattinson, Robert Innis, Alexander Henry,
John Askin Senior, John Askin Junior, Robert Mc-
Niff, William Robertson, Israel Ruland, and John
Dodemead, of various parcels of land, covering the
whole country from the Cuyahoga River westward
to about the centre line of Michigan, and northward
Chap. VIII.] AMERICAN POSSESSION. WAYNE DIES. 197
to Saginaw Bay, including all the land that was then
supposed possibly available for settlement for ages.
The time at last came for taking possession.
The British garrison evacuated the fort some time
before the Americans arrived, and left it in very bad
condition, with the wells filled up with rubbish, and
widi other mischief to the premises.
General Wayne came with Winthrop Sargent,
the Secretary and acting Governor of the Northwest
Territory, and took possession of the fort, putting
Captain Porter in command. Mackinaw was also
garrisoned. On the first of July, 1796, Michigan,
for the first time, became an American possession.
On his return from this duty. General Wayne
started eastward, to deal with charges made against
him by General Wilkinson, who had acted a very
ungenerous part in striving to belittle the exploits
of an officer whose fame has been amply vindicated
by time, and with whom now his assailant's reputa-
tion will bear no comparison. No one ever had a
stronger hold on the administration of the western
people than Mad Anthony, and his memory has not
faded.
The brave soldier, who had escaped the perils of
many battles, was seized on his way to Erie with a
violent attack of gout which proved speedily fatal.
He was buried at Erie. Many years afterwards,
when his son disinterred the remains to remove
them to a place among his kindred, the body was
found uncorrupted and sound as if it had been
embalmed.'
I Burnet.
CHAPTER IX.
MICHIGAN UNDER THE NORTHWEST TERRITC^R^' AND
INDIANA.
The peninsula of Michigan was not allowed to
pass into American hands without a struggle. It
was not until two days after the time fixed by
Jay's Treaty for surrendering the western posts,
that the Legislature of Upper Canada reluctantly
passed an act to discontinue holding courts at
Detroit and Mackinaw.
In the summer of 1795, when it became cer-
tain that the execution of the Treaty of Green-
ville would remove the last obstacle to the posses-
sion of the country by the Americans, a plan was
formed by several merchants residing in Detroit
and in the Parish of Assumption in Canada across
the river, to secure the control of the Territory,
by purchasing all the land. To do this it was
thought necessary to impress upon the minds of
congressmen the" idea that no reliance could be
placed on the peaceable disposition of the Indians,
and that the Detroit merchants were the only
persons that could control them. Where such
persuasion failed to produce conviction, a gigantic
Chap. IX.] CONSPIRACY TO REGAIN MICHIGAN. 199
system of bribery was to be used to accomplish
the desired end. A company, the known western
members of which were the two Askins, Jonathan
Schiefflin, Wilham and David Robertson, Robert
Innis and Richard Pattinson, was ororanized, with
a proposed stock of forty-one shares, of which
five were for the Detroit partners, six allotted to
Ebenezer Allen, of Vermont, and his eastern
associates, six to one Robert Randall, of Phil-
adelphia, and his associates, and the remaining
twenty-four to members of Congress, with the
understanding that they could take money instead,
if they preferred it. Ebenezer Allen and Charles
Whitney, of Vermont, and Robert Randall, of
Philadelphia, were to deal with the members.
Randall and Whitney began the task, and
approached several representatives. They desired
to obtain from Congress a grant of the whole
Lower Peninsula of Michigan, for which they
offered to pay half a million of dollars, or, if need
be, a million, and to assume the risk of getting
up the Indian title.
Among others applied to were Theodore
Sedgwick, William Smith of South Carolina, Mr.
Murray of Maryland, William B. Giles of Virginia,
and Daniel Buck of Vermont. They conferred
with the President, and by concert all avoided
exciting the suspicion of the agents, and managed
to get precise information of the w^hole extent
and details of the scheme. Mr. Sedgwick was
entrusted with the memorial, to present it to the
House.
200 RANDALL AND WHITNEY ARRESTED. TChap. IX.
On the 28th day of December, 1795, these
gentlemen, after the petition had been presented
and referred, arose in their places and divulged
the whole matter to Congress. Randall and
Whitney, who were the only ones that had
approached either of them, were arrested, and
ordered to answer for contempt. Whitney, who
does not appear to have done much, answered
fully and was finally discharged. Randall was
more pugnacious, and was punished by imprison-
ment. He claimed to have obtained pledges
from several members, who took no part in expos-
ing him. The House, with a very ill-judged
squeamishness, objected to having names of mem-
bers given, and questions calling for them were
ruled out. It is sadly to be feared that it was
not impossible, in those days, for members of
Congress to be attracted by an operation with a
certainty of great profit in it.
Of course^ after this exposure, the scheme
failed. The Indian purchases before referred to,
which would have been legalized if Congress had
made this sale, were no doubt concocted with a
view to it. That it was not designed to- keep the
country for American purposes, will appear from
the fact that, under Jay's Treaty, all the partners
residing on the American side of Detroit River
made their election in writing to remain British
subjects ; and all but Schiefflin afterwards retired
to Canada.
It is needless to speculate on the probable
Chap. IX.J BRITISH ADHERENTS. 201
results of the success of such a scheme. MIchiean
would never have become a prosperous American
State, and the whole northwest might have been
a British Province. No part of the country was
Americanized for a long time, except the country
immediately depending on Detroit and Mackinaw.
The white settlers at the Sault Ste. Marie, and
about Green Bay, remained attached to the British
interests, and raised volunteers to aid in the
capture of Mackinaw in the war of 1812. Mack-
inaw itself, as appears from the State Papers of
the United States, was infested by treasonable
inhabitants, who were never adequately dealt with
for their treachery, beyond receiving a good share
of contempt among their neighbors.
How Schiefflin withdrew from his election, or
how he became rehabilitated as an American
citizen, does not appear ; but he certainly became
one, and, not many years after, he was a judge
of common pleas in Detroit, and a useful delegate
at Chillicothe. He had large landed possessions,
and failed to make out a good title to many
more, which he claimed from Indian grants.. He
was a favorite among the Indians, and an adopted
member of some of the tribes, being styled in a
grant from the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawa-
tamie tribes as " our adopted brother and chief
in our said Nations, by the names of Ottason
and Minawinima."'
I Ottason (with the French pronounciation Atasson,) signifies a store-
keeper or trader. Minawinima, a foul talker. This last name was that of
a chief who probably exchanged names with Schiefflin. — Vide Baraga.
202 SOCIAL RELATIONS. [Chap. IX.
He subsequently returned to his old home in
New York, and lived to a good old age. In
T 797 he, with Jacobus Visgar, Richard Pattinson
and Robert Innis, sold theit Indian title to the
south-eastern part of Michigan to William S.
Smith of New York City, for two hundred
thousand pounds York currency, or half a million
dollars, taking back a mortgage (never paid) for
the entire purchase money. If any further ex-
periments were made with Congress, they were
not published, and the speculation failed.
The chanore of alleg^iance made no chancre in
the social relations of most of the citizens. They
had been old associates and good neighbors, and
had no personal quarrels over it. It was generally
felt that in the main the course of the British
sympathizers was such as might fairly have been
expected from those who had felt no political
ofrievances, and it was also known that the British
Ministry, in its extreme courses, did not fairly
represent the British people, from whom the entire
heritage of American liberty had descended. The
tory .refugees from New York were not, however,
looked upon with much complacency by the
Americans ; and the new comers from the Eastern
States were not much better received by the
French, who had a vague dread of being talked
out of their farms before they knew it, by these
glib-tongued bargainers. But time, and the enforced
companionship of a little frontier town, soon
smoothed away their prejudices ; and Detroit
Chap. IX.]
LEGAL AFFAIRS. 203
was, in its early days, a place of more than usual
social harmony.
It now became evident that the policy of pre-
venting settlements had produced one very fortu-
nate result. The amount of land lawfully owned or
claimed by private persons in actual occupancy, was
so insignificant, that the change from French to
English, and from English to American rule, was
not felt in our legal relations. As there had never
been any law regularly administered, unless for a
very short time, and as, under the Quebec Act, wills
could be made according to either English or
French law, no questions were likely to arise except
as to inheritances ; and here the American law was
more like the French than the English, as it did not
devolve estates by primogeniture. It was very
common for French land-owners to make disposition
of their estates amono^ their children, which became
operative before their own decease. The ordinance
of 1787, which attached when the cession was com-
plete, produced no shock whatever ; as the English
traders had always followed the common law, which
was the basis of all proceedings under the Ordi-
nance.
As the statutes of Upper Canada had all been
passed during the usurpation, they required no
repeal ; and, although some rights had grown up
under them, they were not important legally, and
are of small consequence historically, unless, per-
haps, in relation to slavery. The Ordinance of
1787 had declared that "there shall neither be
204 PROVINCIAL LEGISLATION. [Chap. IX.
slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Terri-
tory, otherwise than in the punishment of crime,
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."
Not only had slavery always existed in Canada, but,
in I 790, an Act of Parliament authorized the Gov-
ernor to grant licenses to import negroes and other
slaves into the Province. A very early Act of the
Legislature of Upper Canada prohibited further
importations, and provided for the emancipation of
all slave children thereafter born, on reaching the
age of twenty-five. An Act was also passed for
greater caution, and not from any real difficulty,
whereby all marriages solemnized theretofore by
magistrates, commanders of posts, adjutants or
surgeons, acting as chaplains, were legalized. By
the remarks of some of the advocates as well as of
the opponents of the Quebec Bill, it appears that
some doubts arose originally in regard to the legal
powers of the clergy and others in various cases,
and there were times when there were neither Pro-
testant nor Catholic ministers in some of the settle-
ments. When Father Richard arrived at Detroit, in
1798, he celebrated with the rites of the church
many marriages that had previously been performed
civilly. No other provincial legislation requires
reference.
The only provisions of Jay's Treaty, under which
litigation subsequently arose, were Article 2,
which protected all traders and others in the enjoy-
ment of all their property of every kind, and which
allowed them though resident to retain their old
Chap. IX.] WAYNE COUNTY.
205
allegiance, by declaring their intention within a year
after the evacuation of the posts ; and Article 9,
which allowed existing estates to be transferred,
or to descend, without reference to alienage.
On the 1 8th of August, 1796, Winthrop Sargent,
acting Governor of the Northwest Territory, by
Letters Patent under the Great Seal, set apart the
new County of Wayne. Its boundaries extended
from the Cuyahoga River westward about to the
dividing line now existing between Indiana and
Illinois, and thence northward to the national
boundary line, including all of the subsequent
Territory of Michigan, and a portion of Ohio and
Indiana. The county seat was Detroit, which is
still the county seat of the County of Wayne,
much shrunken from those generous dimensions.
At or about the same time Governor Sargent
organized the militia, and the Court of Common
Pleas for Wayne County, which was, like the
former Canadian court of the same name, a^
court of record of extensive jurisdiction, presided
over by lay judges, who "^ were business men
chosen for their probity and mtelligence. Louis
Beaufait was first Senior Justice, and James May,
Charles Girardin, Patrick McNiff and Nathan
Williams, were early Justices. The appointments
to all judicial offices were made by the Executive.
There was one session at Detroit each year, of
the Supreme Court of the Territory. Those
judges were appointed by the President and
Senate, and, at the time of the organization of
206 COURTS. PUBLIC LANDS. [Chap. IX.
Wayne County, were Rufus Putnam, John Cleves
Symmes, and George Turner. Putnam resigned
the same year, and was succeeded by Joseph
Gillman. Turner had left the Territory in the
spring of 1796, and resigned while absent. Return
J. Meigs was appointed to succeed him in 1798.
By the laws then in force one judge could hold
the court. Judge Symmes attended every term
that was held in Detroit, until Michigan was
separated from Ohio.
As the Ordinance of 1787 was the constitution
of the whole northwest, it demands some refer-
ence, although familiar to the readers of American
history. After the peace of 1783, it became a
serious question what to do with the lands be-
longing to the United States, and not within any
single State. All of Michigan and Wisconsin,
and parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, were un-
questionably treaty acquisitions ; while the re-
mainder of the Northwest Territory was claimed
by conflicting States. The Articles of Confeder-
ation did not provide for such an emergency
expressly, and the government of the confeder-
ation was not adapted for orciinary legislation,
having neither executive nor judiciary.
The States having pretensions over the country
finally made cessions of it, upon jealously drawn
conditions, not for their own benefit, but tor that
of the people of the Territory. The whole trans-
action was more in the nature of a supplementary
treaty, or convention, than of a law ; and the
Chap. IX.] ORDINANCE OF 'EIGHTY-SEVEN. 207
Ordinance ot 1787, if it is regarded as a statute,
is the only instrument of that nature ever passed
by the Congress of the confederation. It was
not, however, properly a statute; for all public
statutes are subject to repeal. This instrument
was not subject to be altered in its most im-
portant provisions, although as to others it prob-
ably was liable to alteration. It is somew^hat
singular that, in adopting a large stream for the
southern boundary of the Territory, Virginia, in-
stead of making the middle thread of the Ohio
River the dividing line, retained jurisdiction over
all the stream.
This important Act of State, adopted on the
13th day of July, 1787, may most properly be
called a constitution; since it vested the whole
original legislative authority in other bodies than
Congress, and in some particulars was meant to
operate as a permanent compact between the
United States and the people of the Territory.
Its general features were as follows : It established
temporary rules of descent and succession, and for
the manner of disposing of property inter vivos
and by will. A governor was to be appointed
from time to time by Congress, for terms of three
years, but removable. A secretary was to hold
for four vears unless removed, and three judges
were to hold during good behavior. A majority
of the governor and judges were to adopt from
the States such laws as were suited to the Terri-
tory, to be in force till disapproved by Con-
208 ORDINANCE OF 'EIGHTY-SEVEN. [Chap. IX.
gress, or altered by the future Legislature. The
Board afterwards obtained the power of alteration
and repeal. The Governor made all appointments
except judges and secretary, (who were appointed
by Congress,) and could lay out counties and
townships, and appoint magistrates and other civil
as well as military officers, at his pleasure. In
this he had the amplest prerogative. When the
popular assembly should be organized, all this was
subject to their legislative control. But Congress
retained no powers of immediate legislation for
itself.
As soon as there should be five thousand free
male inhabitants, an assembly was to be elected,
with one member for each hvG hundred free male
inhabitants, until the assembly should contain
twenty-five members, when the number was to be
fixed by them. An upper house or council, of five
members, was to be selected by Congress, from
ten persons nominated by the representatives.
Representatives were to serve two years, and coun-
cillors five. The Governor had an absolute veto,
with power to assemble, prorogue, and dissolve
the Legislature.
Six articles were declared to be articles of com-
pact between the original States and the people
and States of the Territory, to forever remain un-
alterable, unless by common consent. These were.
First, Religious toleration. Second, A declaration
or bill of rights and liberties. Third, That " reli-
gion, morality and knowledge being necessary to
Chap. IX.] ORDINANCE OF 'EIGHTY-SEVEN. 209
good government, and the happiness of mankind,
schools and the means of education shall forever
be encourao^ed." Also that the Indians should be
protected in their rights and security, and fairly
dealt with. Fourth. Perpetual union, and proper
contribution to the general burdens ; immunity
from taxation, and respect for United vStates lands
and titles ; equality of taxes for non-residents ; and
free use of ways and waters for citizens of other
States. Fifth, That not less than three, nor more
than five, States should be formed ; — if three, to
be divided by north and south lines from points
named ; if four or ^vo., they were to be divided by
the same lines running north and up to an east
and west line through the extreme south point of
Lake Michigan ; and all north of that line was to
form one or two States, as Congress should de-
termine. Each State had assured to it a right to
be admitted into the Union, as soon as it should
contain sixty thousand free inhabitants. Sixth,
That neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
should be allowed except in punishment of crime ;
but fugitives from labor should be subject to
reclamation.
When the Constitution of the United ^States
came into complete operation, in 1 789, one of
the first acts of Congress adapted the ordinance
to it, by transferring to the President and Senate
the powers of a purely executive nature which
had before been vested in Congress. The only
other change made the Secretary acting Governor,
14
210 INDIAN RESPECT FOR DIGNITIES. [Chap. IX.
during the Governor's absence, removal or
resignation.
One term of the Supreme Court was held
each year at Detroit ; and Judge Burnet informs
us that from 1796 until 1803, when the separa-
tion took place, neither he, Judge Symmes, nor
Mr. St. Clair, (who was the Governor's son and
attorney general) ever missed a term. He gives
a lively account of the difficulties and hardships,
as well as amusing incidents, attending the long
horseback rides from Cincinnati to Detroit, and
to the other counties. Among other things, he
describes a curious orame of foot ball at the Au
Glaize village, where the Shawnee Blue Jacket,
and Buckongahelas, the old Delaware chief, resided,
between men and women, in which, by the
prowess of a gigantic squaw, the game was decided
for the women. On their return several weeks
after, they found Blue Jacket had obtained a large
quantity of whiskey, and the people were all
drunk. He tells with much humor how a very
ancient squaw insisted on preferring Mr. St.
Clair above the rest, whom she scornfully char-
acterised as " milish," not to be compared to the
'' big man — Governor's son" whom she honored
with a profusion of drunken motherly kisses.
Judge Burnet, (who in this regard speaks from
his own observation, and is confirmed by his
contemporaries,) expresses himself very strongly
upon the wrongs done the Indians, in not pro-
tecting them from the vices of the whites, until
Chap. IX.] 3^DIAN CHARACTER. 211
.they could have become settled down in peaceful
industry. He says distinctly that until 1 795, after
the Treaty of Greenville, they were dignified and
independent in their intercourse with • the whites,
and received as equals, and that they were in no
respect an inferior race . by nature, and were as
capable of improvement as any people. History
shows that, for a couple of centuries after the
first settlement in Canada, the Indian tribes were
in several instances the only farmers in the
country, and supplied the whites. In Michigan,
Ohio and Indiana, their villages were neat, and
their lands well laid out and well tilled. Those
who have attended Indian councils can bear w^it-
ness to the keenness of their intellects, and the
w^onderful accuracy of their memories ; and such
of them as have received an education are as
well advanced by their training as any people.
If white men were compelled to live as nomads,
and hold no lands as private homesteads, all the
resources of education and civilization would be
equally thrown away upon them. The cold blooded
policy which has first demoralized the Indians,
and then refused to help them because they were
demoralized, is a disgrace to humanity.
The establishment of a regular course of justice
opened a wide field of litigation, and for several
years the court business at Detroit w^as large and
lucrative. The British and other travellers who
visited the country in 1 796, and shorth' there-
after, expressed their surprise at the number and
212 SOCIAL LIFE AT DETROIT. [Chaf. IX.
wealth of the merchants, and the extent of their
business, and stated that all kinds of articles were
nearly as cheap in Detroit as in Xew York and
Philadelphia. The people were gay and pros-
perous, and indulged as freely in the pomps and
vanities of dress and amusements as their contem-
poraries in the elegant circles of the east. The
truthtelling- inventories of the estates of the in-
habitants who had done with the world, include
plate and silks, and all manner of luxuries, as
well as the '* litres de noblesse'^ which had ceased
to be important among the new fledged republi-
cans. On the 4th of June, 1800. during the term
of court at Detroit the court and bar, and all the
officers who could be spared of the vwo regiments
quartered at the fort, with a host of citizens, were
invited to Sandwich to a banquet and ball in
honor of the King's birthday : and a company of
betvs'een four and live hundred, from both sides
of the river, enjoyed a pleasant and courteous
intercourse. The next day, the court and bar.
with others, were taken on a Government vessel
to Fort Maiden, (then not completed,) and after
hospitable treatment proceeded across the lake.
The macrnates of the fur trade had not lost their
Scottish habits of conviviality' : and ludo^e Burnet's
stories of Angus Mackintosh's liberal feasting and
wassailing remind one of Scott's pictures of the
same period in the land of their origin.
I Many Canadian gentlemen received letters of nobility for services in
war and discovery. In making up the inventories ofestates it was customary
to include all pap>ers and titles. Such an item occurs in the inventory of
Fontenay Dequindre, and probably in many more.
Chap. IX.] DETROIT DESCRIBED. 213
As there are not many printed descriptions
of Detroit belonging to the period of the first
American occupation, some extracts from the
Letters of Isaac Weld/ an Irish gentieman of
subsequent literar\' prominence, who \*isited this
region in the autumn of 1 796. may be worth
copying.
** The houses in this part of the countn.' are
all built in a similar st\'le to those in Lower
Canada : the lands are laid out and cultivated
also similarly to those in the lower province : the
manners and persons of the inhabitants are the
same. French is the predominant language, and
the traveller may fancy for a moment if he
pleases, that he has been wafted by enchantment
back a^ain into the neicrhborhood of Montreal or
Three Rivers. All the principal posts throughout
the western countr\\ aloncr the lakes, the Ohio,
the Illinois, etc.. were established by the French :
but except at Detroit and in the neighborhood,
and in the Illinois country-, the French setders
have become so blended with the greater number
who spoke English, that their language has ever\*-
where died away.
" Detroit contains about three hundred houses,
and is the largest town in the western countr}-.
It stands contiguous to the river, on the top of
I Mr. Weld spent parts of the years 1795, 1796 and 1797 in America,
and much of his time was passed in the United States. He was a good
observer, though very bitterly prejudiced. Mr Ticknor met him in Ireland
many years afterward, and he then assured Mr. T. that his views had
become changed. — i Tickxor's Bu^a^kyy /. 424.
214 DETROIT. [Chap. IX.
the banks which are here about twenty feet high.
At the bottom of them there are very extensive
wharfs for the accommodation of the shipping,
built of wood, similar to those in the Atlantic
sea-ports. The town consists of several streets
that run parallel to the river, which are inter-
sected by others at right angles. They are all
very narrow, and not being paved, dirty in the
extreme whenever it happens to rain ; for the
accommodation of passengers, however, there are
footways in most of them, formed of square logs,
laid transversely close to each other. The town
is surrounded by a strong stockade, through which
there are four gates ; two of them open to the
wharfs, and the two others to the north and
south' side of the town respectively. The gates
are defended by strong block-houses, and on the
west [north] side of the town is a small fort in
form of a square, with bastions at the angles.
At each of the corners of this fort is planted a
small field-piece, and these constitute the whole of
the ordnance at present in the place. The British
kept a considerable train of artillery here, but
the place was never capable of holding out for
any length of time against a regular force ; the
fortifications, indeed, were constructed chiefly as a
defence against the Indians."'' P. 351.
1 Mr. Weld, like most strangers, mistook the points of the compass,
by failing to notice the bend at the town, which fronts southward and
not eastward. The gates were at the east and west ends.
2 In this'the writer is in error. Major Lernoult constructed this fort
during the American Revolution, to defend the place against the Americans.
Chap. IX.] DETROIT. 215
" About two-thirds of the inhabitants of Detroit
are of French extraction, and the greater part of
the inhabitants of the settlements on the river,
both above and below the town, are of the same
description. The former are mostly engaged in
trade, and they all appear to be much on an
equality. Detroit is a place of very considerable
trade ; there are no less than twelve trading
vessels belonging to it, brigs, sloops and schooners,
of from fifty to one hundred tons burthen each."
" The stores and shops in the town are well
furnished, and you may buy fine cloth, linen, etc.,
and every article of wearing apparel, as good in
their kind, and nearly on as reasonable terms, as
you can purchase them at New York or
Philadelphia.
" The inhabitants are well supplied with pro-
visions of every description ; the fish in particular,
caught in the river and neighboring lakes, are of
a very superior quality. The fish held in most
estimation is a sort of large trout, called the
Michillimakinac white fish, from its being caught
mostly in the straits of that name." P. 352.
" The country round Detroit is uncommonly flat,
and in none of the rivers is there a fall suf^cient
to turn even a orist mill. The current of Detroit
River itself is stronger than that of any others,
and a floating iPiill was once invented by a
Frenchman, which was chained in the middle of
that river, where it was thoucrht the stream would
be sufficiently swift to turn the water-wheel ; the
216 MILLS. [Chap. IX.
building of it was attended with considerable
expense to the inhabitants, but after it was
finished it by no means answered their expect-
ations. They grind their corn at present by wind
mills, which I do not remember to have seen in
any other part of North America." P. 354.
The author was mistaken concerning the
absence of water power. There is a consider-
able though gradual rise from the Detroit River
northward, and the water is distributed from a
reservoir upon high ground within the city so as
to reach the upper stories of high buildings.
Within living memory, there were streams within
the present limits of the city on which water-mills
once existed. Campau's mill has been referred
to already. A mill also stood on the Cass Farm,
upon the River Savoyard. Two mills were driven
by the waters of Bloody Run, one near the
" Pontiac Tree," where the stream crossed what
is now Jefferson Avenue, and one near the Fort
Gratiot Road. Mr. Tremble also had a water
mill on Tremble's (now Connor's) Creek, at or
near the starting point of the Moravian Road.
The wind mills, which have now mostly dis-
appeared, were once seen on every headland and
point and their white sails revolving in the wind
presented a pleasant spectacle on a fair summer
day. They were all built alike, in circular form,
with a broad sloping stone foundation and up-
right wooden body, surmounted by a conical roof,
which was turned by a long timber sweep, so as
Chap. IX.] MARIETTA COLONISTS. 217
to bring the sails into position. One of these
wind mills, on the American side opposite Sand-
wich or Montreal Point, (on the Gobaie Farm,
since known as the Knaggs, and Bela Hubbard
Farm) had the reputation of being haunted, but
the legend has escaped the antiquarian, and is
now lost.
The town of Marietta, Ohio, was founded in
1 789 by a colony from New England, embracing
some of the ablest men that came to the West ;
and the pattern they set, of caring for schools and
churches in the very beginning of their undertak-
ing, was of infinite service in shaping the future of
the Territory. Most of them had seen honorable
service, and borne rank in the Revolutionary Army,
and they were men of culture and refinement, as
well as good sense and energy. In after days
Michigan received many valuable citizens from
that colony. The first new settler in Detroit after
the occupation was from that place. Solomon
Sibley arrived in 1797. He was then a promi-
nent lawyer, and, as the first member in time, was
also during his professional career second to no
one in character or ability. After filling other pub-
lic stations, he became one of the Judges of the
Supreme Court, and so remained until he felt com-
pelled to retire in old age from deafness. He was
one of those men of sturdy honesty and native
sagacity, whose learning and judgment are never
obscured by egotism or warped by eccentricity,
and who by manly frankness and solid wisdom
218 GENERAL CASS. [Chap. IX.
are the best guides and safest reliance of young
commonwealths. Those distinguished pioneers
found it easy to adapt themselves to the ways of
the wilderness, and the trainincr of the schools did
not unfit them for the work of the settler. When,
three or four years later, Judge Sibley brought
home from Marietta his young bride (a daughter
of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, and granddaughter of
Commodore Whipple, both of Revolutionary repu-
tation,), they halted their horses one evening at
the hospitable home of Major Jonathan Cass, where
Lewis Cass, then fresh from Dartmouth, was pound-
ing samp in a hollow stump. This was the first
meeting of two gentlemen who were destined to
be friends and coadjutors through many years of
stirring events, and both of them lived to see the
Northwest Territory transmuted into populous and
prosperous States.
The early days of all communities are full of
amusing occurrences. Where newspapers are not
in circulation, and there are no frequent comings
and orointrs of travellers, each town and hamlet
furnishes its own comedies and dramas, and every
one feels bound to contribute what he can to en-
liven it. The Bar is somewhat noted for its prone-
ness to such mischief, and the young barristers,
who found plenty of leisure in the intervals of
Court, did their full share. The distino^wished elders
of the Common Pleas were on one occasion, re-
corded in their journal, led into furnishing their
quota. They held their sessions in the ball-room
Chap. IX. J ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES. 219
of Mr. Dodemead, who kept a noted tavern near
the present Michigan Exchange. His bar-room
having proved tempting to the soldiers, Colonel
Strong, the Commander, placed a sentry at the
door to keep them out. Colonel Elijah Brush, the
Public Attorney, noticing this .on his way up stairs,
proceeded to startle the Court by suggesting to
their Honors a doubt whether, as being under
military duress, their proceedings might not be in-
valid. The Court, after due consideration, refer-
red the matter to the wao-o-ish counsel to be
reported upon. In due time he made his report,
so skilfully drawn as to leave the main question
in hopeless obscurity. The commanding officer,
however, removed his sentinel, and the civil au-
thority regained its liberty.
In 1 798, the Territory had acquired the num-
ber of inhabitants which entitled it to a General
Assembly, and three members were allotted to
Wayne County. The elections were then held
viva voce, and not by ballot. Solomon Sibley, Jacob
Visger, and Charles F. Chabert de Joncaire (the
Chevalier de Joncaire before mentioned), were
chosen Representatives. The Legislature was sum-
moned to meet at Cincinnati, on the 4th of Feb-
ruary, 1 799. The first Council consisted ot James
Findla}^ (afterwards Colonel during the war of
181 2, and with the army at Detroit,) Judge Jacob
Burnet, of Cincinnati ; Henry Vanderburgh, (after-
wards a Judge of Indiana Territory) ; David Vance
and Robert Oliver, (a Colonel of the Revolution.)
220 TERRITORIAL LAWS. [Chap. IX.
General William Henry Harrison was chosen
Delegate to Congress.
The previous Territorial Code adopted by the
Governor and Judges was found very imperfect,
and the Legislature had much woik to do in sup-
plying its defects, especially in regard to that large
class of cases Involving remedies not found in
common law proceedings, and usually granted in
equity. The courts had not been granted equity
powers. The delegate was instructed to obtain
for the Territory the title to the sixteenth section
of lands in each township, and the entire township
of land, which had been promised by the Govern-
ment In aid of schools and colleges. The Legis-
lature also passed laws for the protection of the
Indians, and especially to prevent the sale of ard-
ent spirits. There was a strong feeling against
the extent of the Governor's veto power, as well
as his assumed power to control the entire di-
vision and erection of towns and counties ; and
Congress was petitioned to restrict them. Gover-
nor St. Clair was very much inclined to use the
veto power, and did it so freely that legisla-
tion was almost suspended, and the organization
of the State became desirable to avoid further
trouble.
The munificent scheme of devoting a certain
proportion of the public lands to education,
was devised in the earliest days of the Re-
public. In 1785, the sixteenth section in each
township of six miles square was first pledged to
Chap. IX.] SCHOOLS. LAND TITLES. 221
the support of the schools of such townships, and
in the great Symmes purchase one township was
to be used for the purpose ot higher education.
This early recognition of the necessity of schools
and colleges, enforced in the form of a perpetual
compact between the Government and the people
and States in the Territory, has been a source
and stimulus of intelligence, the importance of
which cannot be estimated. The duty of the State
to educate her children, generously and thoroughly,
can never be disregarded without violating the
pledges on which the rights of the State and Ter-
ritory were created.
While the population of Wayne County was
large compared with that of other parts of the
Territory, there was a serious obstacle in the way
of its advancement. The Indian tide had only
been extinguished in a strip six miles wide be-
tween the River Raisin and Lake St. Clair; a
small tract about Mackinaw, and a few detached
parcels that afterwards fell within Ohio. The De-
troit settlement was regarded as the most pros-
perous in the Northwest. That at Mackinaw was
likely to become important. But until more lands
should be brought into market there could be no
rapid growth. No steps had yet been taken to
ascertain what lands had been lawfully transferred
under the French and British rule, and this also
stood in the way of further setdement. Efforts
were made to bring these matters into adjust-
ment, but some years passed before any progress
was reached.
222
DIVISION OF THE TERRITORY. [Chap. IX.
In 1 800 an act of Congress provided that after
July 4th of that year the Territory should be divided^
throwing into the new Territory of Indiana the
country included in two of the three originally
proposed States contemplated by the Ordinance of
1787. The line between Indiana and the remainder
was run due north from Fort Recovery to the
National boundary in Lake Superior, passing a
few miles west of Mackinaw. It was for a time
in doubt whether Mackinaw was in Indiana or the
Northwest Territory. General Harrison was first
Governor of Indiana, and Judge Vanderburgh's
residence there made a vacancy in the Council,
which was filled by the selection of Judge Sibley.
The seat of crovernment was removed bv Con-
gress from Cincinnati to Chillicothe, a step which
caused much discontent, and which was reo^arded
as an infraction of the stipulations of the Ordi-
nance of 1787, which gave the Legislature of the
Territory plenary powers of legislation. The
Council thereupon passed a bill fixing the meet-
ings in rotation at Marietta, Cincinnati and Chilli-
cothe. The House agreed in the right to do this,
but disagreed as to the places, and nothing more
was done at that time.
Accordingly, in November, 1801, the Legis-
lature assembled in Chillicothe, where they re-
mained in session, until January 23, 1802. At
this session the town of Detroit was incorporated,
with a Board of Trustees, and with power to
make by-laws and ordinances for the regulation
Chai'. IX.J disturbance at CHILLICOTHE. 223
of the town. Judge Sibley was succeeded In the
House by Jonathan Schiefflin of Detroit, who
played a prominent part during the session.
The removal of the seat of government to
Chillicothe was very severely criticised by various
members, and the people of that town were
charged with intriguing for it, and the Governor
had also expressed himself against it. Mr.
Schiefflin had been especially emphatic in de-
nouncing it. A mob of townspeople, coun-
tenanced by prominent citizens, created a riot,
and assembled before the house where the Gover-
nor and Schiefflin lodged. They at length forced
the door, when Mr. Schiefflin met them with a
brace of loaded pistols, and drove them back into
the street. They kept up their disturbances two
nights without serious harm to any one. But
the Legislature, to signify their sense of this con-
duct, adjourned to meet at Cincinnati the next
November.
Movements were now set on foot which were
to terminate in the speedy establishment of a
new State. Wayne County was not consulted
by the promoters of the scheme, as Judge Burnet
states, for political reasons. On the 30th of
April, 1802, an , Act of Congress was passed
authorizing the people In that part of the Territory
east of Indiana, and south of the line runnino-
east from the southerly point of Lake Michigan,
to adopt a constitution. All north of that line
was annexed to Indiana, but Cono-ress reserved
224
ANNEXATION TO INDIANA. [Chap. IX.
power either to make it a separate State or to
attach it to Ohio. The people of Wayne County
were very much incensed at being given no voice
in the determination of their future, and at being
deprived of the right of representation ; while
there was a similar feeling in some parts of Ohio,
arising from a conviction that it was a political
trick to secure particular results. Judge Burnet
published in his Notes on the Northwestern
Territory some interesting documents showing
the extent of the feeling concerning the treat-
ment of Wayne County.
The union with Indiana was so brief that it
has left no traces behind it. The Legfislative
power being thrown into the hands of the Gov-
ernor and Judges, the people lost their voice in
the Government. If there were any laws passed
in the interval they are not accessible to ordinary
research, and they never affected rights in Michi-
gan appreciably.
The town of Detroit made use of its new
prerogatives concerning the prevention of fires,
and the use of streets as bowling alleys. There
had been some changes in the town since the
French days, but not many. The streets were, as
before, sixteen and twenty feet wide, and the
Chemin de Ronde twelve feet wide, but with some
jogs and angles widening it further in places.
The main fort was outside of the town, and north
of the River Savoyard. In front, on the Detroit
River, were two commodious wharves. Governor
Chap. IX. J BUILDINGS IN DETROIT. 225
Hamilton had replaced the original chateau by a
large and fine house of hewn timber. The houses
generally were well-built block-houses, one-and-a-
half stories high, with peaked roofs starting but a
few feet from the oround, and dormer windows.
The only sidewalks that could be afforded in such
narrow w^ays were single timbers, squared and
about a foot in diameter. East of the stockade
were the navy garden and navy yard and ceme-
tery, extending a little east of Woodward Avenue.
There were probably some scattered dwellings on
the Domain outside. A space of one arpent wide
sold from the westerly side of the Askin or Brush
Farm, which joined the Domain on the east, was
built up from the river to Michigan Avenue with
for the most part good buildings, that survived the
fire of 1805. The lots wathin the old town were
too small and closely built to afford room for courts
or gardens. A few^ however, had purchased enough
to indulge in this luxury, and these were men of
wealth who could afford to follow their tastes and
beautify their abodes. The houses, like those
built after 1805, were furnished with stout doors
and shutters, and the outer door, as in the ancient
New^ York mansions, was divided in two, so that
the lower half might be kept closed and the upper
half open, allowing all the benefit of light and air
without the intrusion of trespassers of the human
or brute creation. No vehicles were used that
could not be drawn by a single pon\-. In the
centre ot each house arose an enormous chimney
15
226 CHIMNEY ARRANGEMENTS. |Chap. IX.
with flues of large capacity, not reaching far above
the roof, but affording a vent to the great volumes
of smoke that arose from generous fire places
kept heaped with long beech and maple or hickory
wood. Cooking-stoves were not invented yet, and
the baking was done in large dome-like ovens,
built in the yard or attached to the chimney, or
else in bake-kettles or Dutch ovens, where coals
beneath and coals on the broad iron cover ac-
complished the work speedily. The cremaiUere,
or crane, (made classic by Longfellow's beautiful
poem, the '* Hanging of the Crane'') swung from
stout staples in the side of the chimney, with its
array of pots and kettles, hung on the pot-hooks
and trammels that gave names in our youth to the
first efforts of the penman ; and the savory roast
turned before the fire beneath the chimney-piece
and under the open flue, or on long horizontal
spits before a tin reflector. These low roofs and
great chimneys were not without their inconveni-
encies. It is told of a gentleman who in early
times was an exemplary judge and magistrate, that,
notwithstanding his dignity, he on one festival oc-
casion, when a good neighbor was preparing a
grand banquet, went up to the roof, and without
Caleb Balderstone's necessities, dropped a line
with a fish-hook down the kitchen flue, while a
confederate sent off the cook for a moment, and
attached the hook to a fine turkey that had just
reached the proper brownness. The frightened
servant, returning when the bird had flown up the
Chap. IX.] CIVIC MISDEMEANORS. 227
chimney, was firmly convinced the disappearance
was due to nothing short of witchcraft. In 1828.
on a brig-ht summer afternoon, the passers-by on
Jefferson avenue were surprised and startled to
see a large bear promenading along the ridge-
pole of Mr. Thibout's house (directly opposite the
Michigan Exchange); and although the alarm given
brought out half the settlement, Bruin escaped
safely to the woods.
The records of the Irustees show a large
weekly list of fines, against the inhabitants who
failed to keep their water-butts full, or their leather
buckets complete and within reach, or their fire-
bags (large canvas bags for removing goods)
empty, or their ladders sound. The zeal with
which these precautions were followed up shows
the constant fear and dano-er of fires: and was
almost prophetic. It was no slight charge to keep
up a water supply, for there were few wells, and
no means of drawing water but from the river by
carts, or in buckets swung on shoulder-yokes.
There were no engines, and at fires the people
formed double lines to the river, the men to pass
the full buckets and the women and children the
empty ones.
The other misdemeanors most common were
horse racing and bowling. Canadian ponies and
their masters were as prone to racing as the he-
roes of the turf in Eng-land; and no amount oi
fining could keep the prosperous burghers irom
trying their speed in the narrow streets of the
228 PASTIMES. BRITISH FORT. [Chaf. IX.
town. But a more dangerous pastime was rolling
cannon balls in the streets. Ninepin alleys required
more room than the short blocks afforded, and
the narrow highways were tempting substitutes,
while an eighteen-pound ball required strength
and skill to send it swiftly and straight along the
ground. It is not without interest to see that
the culprits brought before the Trustees for these
transorressions were not vao^abonds and loafers,
(for the brisk settlement had no toleration for
such nuisances), but the solici men of business, who
indulged in these simple amusements with the
same overflowing mirth that made their kinsmen
in Auld Reekie spend Saturday at e'en at high
jinks.
The change of the sovereignty took many of
the wealthiest merchants into Canada, where a
part settled in Sandwich and a part at Amherst-
burgh. The British Government at once prepared
to build a fort at the mouth of the river on Bois-
blanc Island, which had been the seat of the Hu-
ron mission, and commanded the entrance to Lake
Erie. Objection was made by the United States,
and the question was serious enough to induce
the British to change their plan and build on the
main land, near by.' Under the Treaty of 1783,
the boundary line was to run along the middle of
the water-communication between Lake Erie and
Lake Huron, and nothing was said about particu-
lar channels or islands. It was not until the close
I Weld's Letters.
Chap. IX.] DISPUTED BOUNDARY. 229
of the last war with Great Britain that provision
was made, in the Treaty of Ghent, for ascertain-
ing the ownership of- the various islands, by a
commission app*ointed under the 6th article of that
treaty. Peter B. Porter and Anthony Barclay
were appointed commissioners b) their respective
governments, and, on the i8th of June, 1822, they
determined that the line should^ run west of Bois-
blanc. The channel between that island and Am-
herstburgh was the main ship channel, and under
the common usage of nations (as recently con-
firmed by the award of the PLmperor of Ger-
many on the San Juan boundary question on
the Pacific coast) the national boundary line is
generally presumed to follow that channel. The
nearness of Bois-blanc to the British mainland
made it very unpleasant to have such a foot-
hold for a possible enemy, and it probably would
not have been agreed to had attention been
called to it. The decision of the commissioners
was equitable, and no one has found fault with
it. In 1796 it was found necessary, in order to
protect the Indians, that the United States should
establish trading posts, where goods were to be
furnished at a low profit and of good quality.
The agents and their employees were restrained,
under heavy penalties, from dealing on their own
account, directly or indirectly, and from purchasing
from the Indians any articles of use in hunting,
cooking, or husbandry, or any articles of clothing.
The laws providing for this, which were temporary,
230 INDIAN TRADE. PUBLIC LANDS. [Chap. IX
were extended from time to time until after the erec-
tion of Michigan into a Territory. The plan was not
perpetuated, although it had some advantages, as
it was liable to fraud. The Indians who received
annual presents from the British and from our own
government of guns, hatchets, knives, cloth, blankets,
kettles, and many other articles of use as well as of
personal adornment, generally disposed of a large
share of these articles before they left the set-
tlements; and when they reached home they were
not much better off than when they started, be-
sides having been exposed to the temptation of
drunkenness. They would no doubt have taken
much better hold of civilization if the appliances
had always remained in their possession.
On the 26th of March, 1804, an act was
passed proviciing for the disposal of the public
lands within the Territory, to which the Indian
title had been extinguished, and directing all claims
under the French and English Governments to be
presented to the Registers and Receivers of the
several Land Offices for proof. By this act, sec-
tion 16 in each township was reserved for the use
of schools within the same, and an entire town-
ship was to be located in each of the districts
afterwards forming Michigan, Indiana and Illinois,
for a seminary of learning. This was the germ
of the University Fund of Michigan, and of the
Primary School Fund. No surveys could be made
with safety until it was known what valid private
grants existed. The Register and Receiver of the
Chap. IX.] MICHIGAN TERRITORY CREATED. 231
Detroit (or Michigan) District did not complete
their labors until after the erection of the new
Territory. In March, 1806, George Hoffman, Re-
gister, and Frederick Bates, Receiver at Detroit,
reported to the Secretary of the Treasury that
only six valid titles had been made out before
them, outside of the town.
It was under these circumstances that, on Janu-
ary iith, 1805, Congress enacted "that from and
after the 30th day of June next, all that part of
Indiana Territory which lies north of a line drawn
east from the southerly bend or extreme of Lake
Michigan, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and
east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend
through the middle of said lake to its northern
extremity, and thence due north to the northern
boundary of the United States, shall, for the pur-
poses of temporary government, constitute a sepa-
rate Territory, and be called Michigan."
Detroit was made the seat of government, and
the ordinances of 1787 and 1789 were adopted
as the charter of the Territory.
CHAPTER X.
CnVERNOR hull's CIVIL ADMINISTRATION.
The transition to a separate territorial existence
was not in all respects fortunate. The people
were entirely deprived of self-government, and
the times were such that the use of the Territories
as political counters, and as rewards for political
services, was becoming a recognized practice.
The discontented citizen of our own time, who
repeats with sadness the perennial story that
the former days were better than these, can have
no intimate knowledge of those former days.
The course of time has removed from sight all
but the more prominent features ot the period.
Those who were on the whole useful and sagaci-
ous have been forgiven their lesser delinquencies
and unworthiness, and the mutual charges of
political corruption and dishonesty, which people
forget as easily as they make them, have been
lost sight of in the quarrels of their successors.
Then, as now, most men who were not very soon
cast out, were probably in the main well-meaning
and patriotic ; and like modern politicians, they
persuaded themselves for the time that their
personal or party success was so essential to the
Chap. X.] POLITICAL ASPERITY. 233
public welfare that it was better to use means
questionably good, or unquestionably bad, than
have the country ruined by falling into other
hands. It is not pleasant for sensitive men to
have their names and reputations bandied about
and smirched, as recklessly as it is too often done
by careless writers of items and editorials ; but
there was not an early statesman, from Washington
down, who has not had meaner things said of him
than are often ventured on by decent papers now
concerning any one. The first half century of the
Republic was conspicuous for the malignity of
political quarrels, and the utter disregard of the
sanctity of the private reputation of public men.
In our day men who abuse each other in print, or
on the stump, do not generally carry their warfare
into social intercourse ; and a person who allows
his politics to lead him into discourtesy and
malevolence in private life, is justly considered
unworthy of respect. But in the early years of
this century, men believed as well as spoke all
manner of evil against their antagonists. Diplomacy
had not yet lost the habit of lying and duplicity,
and weak nations or communities had no riorhts
which stronger ones respected. The reign of
George the Third was a time when many great
and patriotic statesmen did honor to their re-
spective countries on both sides of the Ocean.
It was also a time when political morality, and
the manners as well as ethics of public life, every-
where presented ample room for improvement ;
234 POPULATION. [Chap. X.
and they have been very much bettered. While,
therefore, we may find in the history of this region
plain marks of bad and selfish management, it
would be quite unfair to lay too much stress upon
it. Our territorial governments have been im-
proved in some respects, but selfishness and mis-
rule have not yet ceased to be found among them.
The country which became Michigan Territory
after the 30th day of June, 1805, contained at
that time no white settlements except Detroit and
Frenchtown, and the river settlements, and
Mackinaw. Beyond these there may have been
a few straggling traders, but no communities. In
1800 the population, (not including Indians,) was
only 3,206. This census return must be nearly
correct, as in 1 799 there were three representa-
tives, each representing at least five hundred free
male inhabitants. In 18 10 the population had only
increased to 4,762. Of these 144 were Indians
taxed' or colored persons, 24 of whom were slaves.
In 1 8 10 there were 2,837 ^^^^ white males, and
1,781 free white females, showing an excess of
males of 1,036. It is evident that a large portion
of the immigration was of single men. In 18 10
Detroit had a population of 1,650, or more than
St. Louis, and nearly as many as Vincennes and
Kaskaskia combined, these two being the chief
Indiana settlements. There was not a hamlet or
farm in the Territory five miles away from the
boundary. Immediately across the Detroit River
was a province which had begun to improve, and
ChAP. X.J CRITICAL POSITION OF MICHIGAN. 235
increased in population very fast. Its people had
representative government, and were kindred in
blood and actual relatives of a large share of the
people of Michigan, and on the most friendly
terms with them. Surrounding all the white
settlements in Michigan, and lying between them
and the other American States and Territories,
were gathered considerable numbers of the Indians
of the northwest, who had settled down in
Michigan and northern Indiana and Ohio, and still
retained tide to all bu: a trifling part of the lands
in the Territory. Each of these tribes was in the
regular receipt from Great Britain of arms,
annuities and supplies, and great pains were taken,
without resistance by our Government, to keep
up respect and attachment for the British. With
the previous warning derived from the withholding
ot the posts and the encroachments on American
territory, it might have been foreseen to be danger-
ous to leave thus isolated from American sur-
roundings or attachments a community whose
allegiance had just been changed, and not changed
by their own procurement. It offered a strong
temptadon to our neighbors across the Strait, to
make a further effort to get back the peninsula
before it could be setded ; and, while it is not
established that the Bridsh Government was
direcdy responsible for all that was done, the
sequel showed that the land was coveted, and the
effort was speedily made at a terrible cost to the
border.
236 UNWISE APPOINTMENTS. [Chap. X.
The selection of rulers for such a country,
who were to have the entire control both of
legislation and of administration, required more
care than it received. The appointments were not
open to any apparent objection, and perhaps the
wisdom that comes after the fact should not blame
what was not generally supposed to be unsafe.
The principle of appointment followed then is
very generally followed now, and none more dis-
creetly. No sufficient heed was given to the char-
acter of the population or its ways. No wiser or
better men were to be found in the United States
than those who had settled in the Northwest Ter-
ritory after the Revolution. They were men of
sagacity and adaptability, with large experience of
old as well as new countries, accustomed to every
kind of society, and possessing the confidence and
regard of their neighbors. The Indians also knew
both their worth and their prowess, and had a
wholesome respect for the Long Knives. The
Governor of Indiana, General Harrison, had been
wisely chosen from this class, and that Territory
had gone on rapidly in improvement, while the new
State of Ohio wa's increasing with wonderful
speed. Michigan needed a western governor and
western ideas, but it failed to get the benefit of
either.
It is a great mistake to suppose the adoption
of good laws is a necessary sign of prosperity.
If they emanate from popular bodies, they may
indicate (though not always) the popular sense.
Chap. X.] TERRITORIAL OFFICERS. 237
But there are often good laws upon our statute
books that have never really governed the action
of the people, and there are bad laws which have
never hurt them, because never carried out fully..
It is not on legislation, so much as on the actual
conduct of affairs, that prosperity depends. The
rottenest governments have had written codes
which have been gready admired, but which never
prevented mischief. The codes adopted by the
Governor and Judges of Michigan were substan- *
tially like those of their neighbors, and were not
complained of. But the first decade of the Ter-
ritorial life was unfortunate. As the time ap-
proached for organizing the Territory, Mr. Jeffer-
son sent to the Senate for confirmation the names
of William Hull for Governor, Stanley Griswold
for Secretary, and Augustus Brevoort Woodward,
Samuel Hundngton and Frederick Bates as Judges.
Mr. Hundngton declined the office, and in 1806
his place was filled by John Griffin. As the Gov-
ernor, under the ordinance, had the entire control
of establishing local offices and appoindng officers,
the character of the local organizadon depended
almost entirely upon his judgment.
Of these persons, Governor Hull was an old
Revoludonary officer from Massachusetts ; Mr.
Griswold an able man but a red-hot polidcian
from Connecticut, who had left the pulpit to be-
come an editor, and who was only comfortable
when he had his own way ; Judge Bates was a
resident land officer at Detroit, of sterlino- worth.
238 TERRITORIAL OFFICERS [Chap. X
and admirably fitted in all respects for his place ;
Judge Grif^n was a man of elegant accomplish-
ments, but no great force of character or con-
victions; and Judge Woodward was one of those
strange compounds of intellectual power and wis-
dom in great emergencies, with very frequent ca-
price and wrongheadedness, that defy description.
Two of the three Judges, Bates and Griffin,
were Virginians by birth, and old friends of Jeffer-
son. Woodward, though generally credited to Vir-
ginia, was not, it is believed, a native of that State,
but of New York. He resided in the District of
Columbia, and had attracted considerable attention
from some ambitious writings of a somewhat specu-
lative character, to which Mr. Jefferson had taken
a fancy. They had many points of resemblance
in their tastes. The executive officers were doubt-
less selected (being otherwise regarded as compe-
tent) because of their peculiar prominence as his
supporters, in a region where he was not very
popular.
Mr. Griswold, who had made himself useful in
various ways in land matters, was for some reason
unable to harmonize with the Governor, and it is
said desired to supersede him. In this, how^ever,
he failed, and was himself removed at the end of
his first term of three years; and his place was
filled by Reuben Atwater of Vermont. This gen-
tleman was universally respected for his integrity
and good sense; and having been uniformly cour-
teous and diligent and having attended to his own
Chap. X.] ARRIVAL AT DETROIT 239
business without disturbing or squabbling with his
neighbors, he has failed to make as conspicuous a
place in our local annals as if he had been less
exemplary.
Judge Bates remained on the bench a little
over a year. He found his associations unpleas-
ant, and with Judge Griffin more than unpleasant,
so much so as to have nearly led to a duel. He
resigned his commission in November, 1806, and
during the next winter was made Secretary of
Louisiana Territory, at St. Louis, where he remained
continuously in this and other responsible posi-
tions, and died in 1825, while Governor of the
State of Missouri. His resignation was a serious
misfortune for Michigan. After he left there was
no interruption in the unseemly quarrels and in-
trigues which brought the legislative board and
the court into contempt, and effectually checked
the prosperity of the Territory. But in the out-
set, and apparendy until Griffin came, there was
no serious clashing. The latter apparendy was not
entirely above mischief-making between Woodward
and his colleagues ; and while he generally ad-
hered to the views of Woodward, he never struck
out in any original path of good or evil.
The judges were appointed during good be-
havior, and Judge Woodward was presiding judge.
He arrived in Detroit on the 29th of June, 1805.
The Governor reached the town on the i st of
July. On Tuesday, July 2d, the Governor admin-
istered the oath of office to the other officers, and
organized the government
240 DETROIT BURNED. TChap. X.
They found a very sad state of affairs. On
the iith day of June, 1805, a fire destroyed every
pubhc and private building in the town, except a
warehouse owned by Angus Mackintosh, and a
log-built bakery on the water's edge below the
bluff. The warm season had enabled the people
to camp out without discomfort, and those who
could not find refuge in the hospitable abodes
near by, and in Canada, had found rude shelter
on the domain adjoining. Some had already put
up new houses. The narrow streets and small
lots in the old town were not well fitted for the
growth of a settlement, and it was seen by all
that a more commodious plan should be devised.
In the uncertainty that existed concerning the
ownership and control of the domain, it was con-
cluded to lay out a town, and provide for the
present emergency, leaving all questions to be
settled in future. Lots were disposed of enough
to meet the necessity, and the case was held over
for the action of Congress.
Within the next three months a code of laws
was prepared, and adopted seriatim in sections
from day to day, by unanimous concurrence. The
statutes were well drawn and judicious, so far as
can be seen. Judicial matters received early at-
tention.
Small cases were left to be disposed of by
justices of the peace, and the Supreme Court was
vested with exclusive original jurisdiction over land
cases and capital criminal cases, and concurrent
Chap. X.] COURT DISTRICTS. LOTTERIES. 241
jurisdiction over other civil controversies involving
more than two hundred (afterwards five hundred)
dollars, with appellate power g-enerally. The in-
termediate jurisdiction was vested in district courts
presided over by one of the judges. Three dis-
tricts were created by the Governor in the first
instance, called the Districts of Erie, Detroit and
Huron; the District of Erie comprehending the River
Raisin country from Ohio northward to the Huron
River, and the Detroit and Huron Districts, which
were temporarily thrown into one, extending to
Lake Huron. A fourth district was created which
extended to Mackinaw.
One of the earliest acts provided for raising
by four successive lotteries the sum of twenty
thousand dollars, for the encouragement of litera-
ture and the improvement of the city of Detroit.
This act, passed on the 9th of September, 1805,
is the first official recognition of its existence as
a city. Doubdess the Chief Jusdce had already
drawn in imaginadon the curious plan which his
sanguine fancy, looking forward seven or eight
centuries, saw filled out with the completest city
ever devised. Less than half a century saw more
than threefold its space completely built, but the
symmetrical scheme w^as not as fair in other eyes
as in his own. Colonel McKenney, in his "Tour
to the Lakes," aptly described it as representing
a spider's web with all its lines arranged with
reference to a principal centre. The affecdon of
its author for this device was extreme, and his
16
242 MILITIA. [Chap. X.
pride in it excessive ; and much of the trouble
that afterwards arose, and had its influence on the
peace of the Territory, came from the want of
respect among his colleagues for this darling child
of his genius, which was shorn of its fair propor-
tions and dislocated.
The Governor took immediate steps to enroll
the militia. Francis Chabert de Joncaire, Judge
Woodward, Elijah Brush and John Anderson, were
commissioned colonels, with other officers subordi-
nate. The act adopted for their government gave
the Governor power to call them out whenever
he chose, and his ill-advised course concerning
them was a source of trouble. He appears (as well
as some of his subordinates) to have had very high
views of military prerogative in time of peace ;
and the attempt to enforce the same nicety of
clothing and equipment customary in the regular
service, led to insubordination on the one hand
and anger on the other, which did not raise him
in popular esteem. But this trouble was not im-
mediate.
The appropriation bills show that a temporary
shelter, called a " bower," was built for the court.
The grand jury, when the court first met, pre-
sented the subject of land titles as requiring im-
mediate attention. No orovernment lands were in
market, and the unsettled condition of private es-
tates was an effectual hindrance to prosperity.
Until the commissioners reported, no one felt any
assurance of title, and their report showed that
Chap. X.| LAND TITLES. 243
there were only six good farm titles in the Ter-
ritory. The Governor and Chief Justice both
went to Washington, and obtained favorable legis-
lation. April 2 1 St, 1806, the Governor and Judges
were authorized by Congress to lay out a town,
including the old town of Detroit and ten thous-
and acres adjacent, to settle all private claims for
lots, and to convey a lot of fifty feet by one hun-
dred to every person over seventeen years old
owning or inhabiting a house at the time of the
fire. The remaining land was to be sold to build
a court house and jail. Both of these were built
many years thereafter, and the court house became
the Territorial and State Capitol, until the seat of
government was removed to Lansing. It was
then devoted to the purposes of a union school,
and is now, with additions, the Detroit High
School.
On the 3d of March, 1807, an act of Congress
was passed granting to each person, or the grantees
or heirs of each person, who possessed and
occupied lands on the first day of July, 1796, a
title to such lands, not exceeding six hundred and
forty acres in each tract. Subsequent laws were
from time to time passed giving additional grants
and pre-emptions to such persons, and in Macki-
naw and the remoter districts fixincr die date of
possession at July first, 181 2. Most of these
claims had already been presented to the Land
Commissioners for allowance, as held under color
of British, French and Indian titles. The lands
244 BANK OF DETROIT. [Cmap. X.
outside of Detroit were not managed by the
Governor and Judges. After providing for all
these cases there were adjacent lands extending
back about three miles further from Detroit
River, which might have been put into the market,
but were not, as the surveys were postponed.
Much discord arose in the meetings of the
Governor and Judges, in their new functions as a
land-board for Detroit lands. They are of no
interest as matters of history, except as explain-
ing how the various Territorial functionaries be-
came embroiled, so as not only to prevent proper
legislation, but also to impair confidence in all
of them.
Another transaction was not without bitter
fruits. Early in 1806, Russel Sturges and other
Boston capitalists made arrangements to organize
a bank in Detroit, with a capital of ^400,000,
a very large sum in those days. It was designed
to be used in connection with their fur-trade.
Their petition to the Governor and Judges was
dated early in the spring, and they not only
appointed their cashier, but built their bank, before
they received their charter, which was given in
September, 1806. Judge Woodward was made
President of the bank, which began operations,
and issued bills. The act creating it was dis-
approved by Congress, in March, 1807, and gave
rise to very severe attacks on the Governor and
Judges. Judge Woodward was threatened with
impeachment for this and other misconduct, and
Chap. X.] DISCORDS IN THE BOARD. 245
Governor Hull's re-nomination in 1808 was op-
posed, but unsuccessfully. On the 23d of April,
1808, Judge Witherell was appointed judge to
succeed Judge Bates. It appears that after Bates'
departure, Woodward and Griffin had everything
their own way, and paid no attention to the Gov-
ernor, who was left in a hopeless minority ; and
that they used their power with some insolence
and malice. Judge Witherell was as firm as
Woodward, but much more quiet in his ways.
His coming gave the Governor the support he
needed, as well as the suggestions of a more
masculine intellect, and the tables were turned.
Henceforth, upon the question of the plan and
various other matters of difference, the absence of
any one of the four sometimes led to hostile
legislation by the opposing majority present.
The bank, in spite of the action of Congress,
continued to do business. In September, 1808,
when Judge Woodward was absent in Washington,
Judge Witherell introduced and passed, against
Griffin's opposition, a criminal bill of various pains
and penalties, which, among other things, punished
unauthorized banking. This ended the Bank of
Detroit, but was never forgiven by Judge Wood-
ward, who, as long as he remained on the bench,
was never on pleasant terms with Judge With-
erell, and they never exchanged words, if they
could avoid it, except officially.
Much feeling is said to have been roused by
the course of Woodward in 1806, concernino- cer-
246 SLAVES. rcHAP. X.
tain persons convicted of kidnapping. Some Brit-
ish deserters were captured in Detroit by British
officers, aided by one or more American officers,
and the offenders were tried by jury and sentenced
to fine and imprisonment. Some days thereafter
Woodward changed the punishment to a nominal
fine of a few cents. Why this was done does
not appear. He was not a man of British sym-
pathies, and on a subsequent occasion, many years
later, expressed himself in favor of a heavier pun-
ishment for such cases than his brethren assent-
ed to.
In 1807 a very curious case arose concerning
slavery. Mrs. Catharine Tucker was required, upon
habeas corpus, to answer for the detention of
Elizabeth and Scipio Denison, persons of color,
and she justified on the ground that they were
held as slaves at the time of the surrender of
the post in 1796, and were assured to her under
Jay's Treaty, in spite of the provision against
slavery in the ordinance of 1787. Judge Wood-
ward gave the matter a very elaborate examina-
tion, and wrote a full opinion sustaining her right.
The case was decided on the 23d of September.
A few days after, application \vas made for the
arrest and delivery of some Pawnee and mulatto
slaves who had escaped from their masters, Mr.
Pattinson and Matthew Elliott, who resided in
Canada. In this case the decision was emphatic
that there was no obligation to give up fugitives
from a foreign jurisdiction. Thereupon Lisette
Chap. X.J INDIAN TREATY. 247
and Scipio went over the river into 'Canada,
where the same doctrines were enforced, and took
refuge with Mr. Askin ; and they were for a
time employed in the family of Angus Mackin-
tosh. They subsequently came back and were
never molested, — remaining with Colonel Brush,
Judge Sibley and Major Biddle, most of their
lives. Lisette accumulated some property. The
attempt to obtain Mr. Elliott's servants led to
a disturbance. His agent was tarred and feath-
ered, and himself treated with some indignity.
During the year 1807, Governor Hull held a
council at Detroit with the Ottawas, Chippewas,
Wyandots and Potawatamies, and a treaty was
signed on the 17th day of November, whereby
they ceded to the United States (excepting some
small reserves) the country in the southeast
part of the Territory, bounded west by the prin-
cipal meridian, which is about seventy-five miles
west of Detroit River, running as far up as the
latitude of the present Fort Gratiot, and thence
northeast to White Rock in Lake Huron. This
tract coincides very nearly with the land pur-
chased from the Indians and sold by Schiefflin
and others to Smith in 1 797. By this cession a
large region was opened and made subject to
survey and sale ; but the surveys were postponed,
and there was no more land to be bought after
the treaty than before.
No doubt a chief reason for not hastening the
surveys and sales of lands was found in the fear
248 t)ETkOlT FORTIFIED. [Chap. X.
of Indian troubles. In memorials sent to protest
against Hull's reappointment in 1808, he is charged
with timidity, and exciting groundless alarms con-
cerning Indian attacks, and with using undignified
means to conciliate individual Indians who should
have been punished. It is difficult now to know
how much he was censurable for these alarms,
but their open expression was not prudent. They
were not then, though they were soon after, shared
by others. A timid bearing has always encouraged
hostilities from whites and Indians both ; and Gov-
ernor Hull's conduct is generally regarded, during
his administration, as characterized by alternate fits
of activity and vacillation, not traceable altogether
to want of courage so much as to infirmity of
purpose. He at any rate must have convinced
the War Department of the correctness of his
suspicions, as in 1807 the town was ordered to be
stockaded; and accordingly he or the Secretary
(for accounts differ) ran a line of high pickets,
with occasional block houses, along the eastern
bound of the settlement, including the Domain
and adjoining houses, as far north as the street
now known as Michigan avenue, and thence
west to the Cass Farm and south to the river,
including the fort and all public and private build-
ings. Where the stockade crossed Jefferson Ave-
nue, at the upper end of the Biddle House (then
Governor Hull's own mansion), there was a large
block house with artillery; and a gate contiguous
to the old citadel stood at the western end of
Chap. X.] ARBITRARY MEASURES. 249
Jefferson Avenue, where the high bluff crossed it,
commanding the approaches from the west.
The memorials complain not only that this
work was imperfect, but that the Governor had,
without authority, compelled companies of militia
to labor in digging trenches and planting pickets,
as if they had been in regular pay and service.
While the evident share of Judge Woodward in
getting up the memorials requires the use of care
in judging of the correctness of the criticism of
the Governor's acts, it cannot be assumed that
statements of specific facts are unfounded ; and
his stretch of vexatious authority over the militia
in some matters is shown by his own statements.
The early military governors had been too famil-
iar with the habits of the British commanders be-
fore the Revolution, to be as careful as they should
have been concerning popular rights. In this re-
spect Governor Hull did not stand alone, but such
conduct was very obnoxious to the people on the
frontier.
The Governor also incurred universal censure
by enrolling a separate company of negro militia
composed entirely, or almost entirely, of recent
fugitives from Canada, who were not native citi-
zens, and could not then become naturalized. The
act of Congress allowed none but whites to be
enrolled, and the state of feeling at that time did
not authorize such a violation of law.
In 1808, Judge Woodward, on his departure
for Washington, laid before the Legislative Board
250 QUARRELS. [Chap. X.
a series of abusive resolutions and charges against
the Governor, which the latter was unwise enough
to reply to at length ; — and this was all that
Woodward desired. He knew very well that no
such resolutions could pass without his own vote,
if at all. This, and some other transactions, seem
to indicate that the Legislative Board (properly
resembling very closely a privy council) had
adopted the habit of holding public sessions, and
airing its dissensions before the populace. There
is no other means of accounting for the ridiculous
vaporing and pomposity of the Chief Justice, and
his indecent strictures upon his associates, nor for
the counter-blasts, more decent and dignified, but
not judicious, which came from his antagonists.
There was a general spirit of pugnacity manifest
at their meetings.
But Woodward's conduct at times reached
such a pitch as to be beyond excuse. Having
on one occasion made an order in a cause which
created some feeling. Major John Whipple,
(father of the chief justice of that name), meeting
him in the street, used some severe and opprobri-
ous language. Judge Woodward undertook to
treat this as a contempt of court, and imposed a
fine. Some months afterwards, in February, 1809,
Governor Hull pardoned the offence, as he had a
right, and as was perhaps required in common
justice. This led afterwards to difficulty.
The district courts, first created in 1805, had
been modified by a statute of 1807, which gave
Chap. X.] WOODWARD'S COURSE. 251
them some of the financial and administrative
duties generally performed by the quarter-sessions
or county boards, and provided that they should
be held by a chief justice and two associates " of
integrity, experience and legal knowledge," ap-
pointed by the Governor. George McDougall was
first chief justice, and James Abbott and Jacob
Visger' associates. These gentlemen were not
admitted attorneys or counsellors, but were fairly
educated and judicious men, fully competent for
their duties. In August, 1809, Major Whipple
was appointed associate judge of this court for
the District of Detroit and Erie. In the latter
part of September, Judge Woodward, treating
this as a personal slight, procured a grand jury
to present the Governor as having granted an
illegal pardon ; and the same subservient body,
doubtless in response to suggestion, recommended
the enforcement of the fine, w^hich Woodward
carried out by process against Major Whipple.
While this presents the chief justice in a very
disgraceful light, it indicates great weakness in a
governor who year after year submitted to such
insults and invasions of right, without seeking any
remedy beyond proclamations and counter resolves.
The same grand jury was induced not only to
present the Governor, but also Judge Witherell,
for unwise legislation, and to declare their laws
passed in W^oodward's absence as " unnecessary,
I The writer first read Blackstone in what had been Judge Visger's
Copy of that author, now in his possession.
252 JUDGE WOODWARD. • [Chap. X.
nugatory and a nuisance." Fortified by this pro-
found legal authority, Woodward and his echo
Griffin, a few days after, declared the whole body
of laws passed in Woodward's absence invalid,
because not signed by the individual names of
the members of the board, instead of by the
chairman and secretary. Sometimes the grand
jury presented Woodward; but their action in such
case was not deemed so correct.
That conduct like this should effectually
destroy all the moral force of authority was
inevitable. The peculiarities of Judge Woodward
were such as almost to render it doubtful at
times whether he was not something more than
eccentric; while on the other hand his conduct
was usually reasonable and becoming, when he
was in a position where he was not tempted to
act insolently, or where there were strong reasons
of policy. During the war of 1812, he was
intrepid and active as well as useful in mediat-
ing with the British authorities, and was long the
only person who effectually interposed to protect
the American citizens in Detroit, and to urge
redress for their injuries elsewhere. Under
General Cass's administration, while often enough
provoking resentment from private and official
individuals, he did not indulge in such conduct in
the board or elsewhere as he used towards Hull,
against whom he had a peculiar antipathy. On
the bench, however, the recollections of business
men indicate that there could not have been any
^HAP. X.J JUDGE WOODWARD. 253
thorough improvement in harmony, and both he
and Griffin were finally legislated out of office.
His personal habits were slovenly, and his room
was conspicuous for disorder. His worst habit,
however, was that sort of audacious impudence
which, under the name of eccentricity, has some-
times characterized men of mark, and even made
them to be imagined greater than if they had
behaved themselves with more civility. John
Randolph was an instance of this kind.
In the early Territorial days it had not become
so discreditable as it has been in our time for
persons insulted to use what Blackstone would have
classed among "remedies by act of the party;"
and Judge Woodward often provoked, and some-
times received this treatment, while no doubt he
much oftener deserved it. If the Governor had
ever forgotten his dignity in this way, instead of
in less effective conduct, he might perhaps have
secured peace, and had better fortune. But
Woodward, who never respected him, had dis-
covered his weak points, and that he was more
prompt in asserting his rights than in defending
them, and so took a malicious pleasure in aggra-
vating him. But beyond this, the Chief Justice
regarded himself as the only man in the Territory
whose views should pass current without question ;
and enforced this doctrine when he could.
These quarrels had a bad effect on the public
peace. Each of the contending powers had pre-
rogatives which made it to the interest of various
254 SOCIAL CONDITION. [Chap. X.
persons to conciliate him. Each had, therefore,
his greater and lesser satellites, and among them
personal encounters were common. Whether the
town was more turbulent than other border towns
at that period may be doubted. But the offend-
ers were oftener brought before the courts, and
were generally men of standing.
The social condition of the town was good.
It had an unusual proportion of educated and
refined people, and a fair general standard of edu-
cation. Unfortunately the earliest school law,
passed in 1809, was never printed, and has dis-
appeared. There was no permanent newspaper
press until 181 7, although in 1809 a small paper
was published a little while. We have no full
knowledge of the number or condition of schools.
But an examination of our public records shows
that a very large portion of the inhabitants, both
French and English, had at least an ordinary edu-
cation. Their papers and signatures show a habit
of using the pen, and their accounts are neatly
and accurately kept. • In spelling French words
there are tokens that much was taught by the ear
instead of the eye, but the orthography of that
language was not perfectly followed by many
very distinguished men under the French regime,
and the blunders found occasionally in our French
papers are no worse than abound in public docu-
ments. Napoleon has credit for similar mistakes ;
and in our own language fifty years ago (if not
to-day) inaccurate spelling was not proof of ig-
<^"AP. X.] FATHER RICHARD. 255
norance. In most garrisons where there were
children some pains were taken to teach them.
We know from the character of the early immi-
grants and natives of Detroit that they would not
allow their children to lack education ; and so far
as we have facts they all tend to prove this. In
1798 Father Gabriel Richard, a priest of the Or-
der of St. Sulpice, first came as resident pastor
of the Catholic church of St. Anne. His tall and
sepulchral figure was familiar to every one during
the long period during which he filled his sacred
mission. He was not only a man of elegant
learning, but of excellent common sense, and a
very public-spirited citizen. He encouraged edu-
cation in every way, not only by organizing and
patronizing schools for the immediate trainino- of
his own people, but by favoring all other proper
schemes for general intelligence. He brought to
Detroit the earliest printing-press that was known
in the Territory, and in 1809 published a small
gazette called the ''Michigan Essay, or Impartial
Observer." He also compiled and published some
religious and educational works for his own flock,
and some selections from French authors for read-
ing. He was an early officer of the University,
and a teacher or professor in it. His acquaint-
ance was prized among Protestants as well as
Catholics. His quaint humor and shrewd sense,
m no way weakened by his imperfect pronuncia-
tion of English, are pleasantly remembered by all
who had the fortune to know him; while his brief
256 SCHOOLS. [Chap. X.
prayer for the Legislature, that they might make
laws for the people and not for themselves, was
a very comprehensive summary of sound political
philosophy.
The researches of some of our citizens have
led to the discovery of several names of teachers
who flourished before the days of newspapers,
although no doubt many more have been forgotten.
The Reverend David Bacon (father of Dr. Leo-
nard Bacon) taught a school at Detroit in 1802.
Miss Elizabeth Williams, (daughter of Thomas
Williams before mentioned), and her cousin Miss
Angelique Campau, taught schools as early as
1808, and the school of the former and of her
associates and successors was continued many
years. From 1 8 1 2 to 1 8 1 8 a classical school was
kept up by Mr. Payne and Reverend John
Monteith. In 181 6 a common school on the New
England plan was opened under Mr. Danforth.
After the organization of the University, in 181 7
or 1 81 8, teachers were abundant, and schools
thorough and excellent, and more than one of
these teachers became eminent in civil and military
life. Teaching was a common occupation among
ambitious men preparing for their future career.
Not very long after Michigan Territory was
organized, the Indians began to complain of the
advance of the white men, and that they had
signed treaties which they did not understand.
No encroachment had been made on the Indians
in Michigan, and the Indians there had not
Chap. X.J INDIAN DISCONTENT. 257
generally preceded the white men in the southern
part of the State. But it was true enough that
their future was doubtful, unless they learned
some of the arts of civilizadon. Their discontent,
however, if it originated witli themselves, was
chiefly due to the promptings of others. The
Northwest Company was deeply interested in
keeping the country a wilderness, and the control
of it was earnesdy coveted by British interests.
From all parts of the Indian country reports came
that Elliott, the agent at Maiden, was tamperino-
with the tribes. Their annual presents were con-
tmued on a liberal scale, and they received an
extra share of guns and munidons of war. Even
as early as 1807 and 1808, there were indications
of some mysterious plan of mischief. The wonder-
ful organizing power of Pontiac had long before
shown the value of unity to the Indians, and tribes
that had once been hostile were found seeking
strength in brotherhood. The lesson was not for-
gotten; and in all the early treaties made by the
United States with the Indians east of the Mis-
sissippi, it was found that the tribes had become
confederated, and that they had counsellors who
were not Indians. In 1784, and thereafter. Brant
appeared as the great centralizing agent; and in
1794 and 1795, i" Wayne's Campaigns, and at the
Treaty of Greenville, it was found that although
there was much tribal independence, there was
nevertheless a very general union, and this was
influenced chiefly from Maiden by McKee and
Elliott, through various chiefs.
17
258 TECUiM^EH AND THE PROPHET. [Chap. X.
The new representative of this unifying policy
was Tecumseh, a chief of the Shawanoes, or Shaw-
nees, a body of whom, after the Treaty of Green-
ville, had established themselves by permission of
the Potawatamies and Kickapoos on the Tippe-
canoe River — a branch of the upper Wabash.
This chief was a wise and statesmanlike charac-
ter, and his ambitions were noble. He desired to
advance the prosperity of the Indians by bring-
ing them into unity and civilization. The Iroquois
had once advanced far in that direction. The
Wyandots, or Hurons, were intelligent and indus-
trious. Some of the southern tribes, especially
the Cherokees, had begun the work which still
continues as a development of progress made
under very great difficulties.
Tecumseh knew the danger of contact with
the whites, and he also knew the advantages of
Michigan and the adjacent country for Indian set-
tlement. No country on the continent was better
adapted for his confederacy. The annual subsi-
dies of the British Government and the blandish-
ments of the Maiden agency had done much to
retain the old influence, and the sagacious chief
was not left in doubt concerning the approval of
his scheme by his Canadian friends. The letters
from all parts of the country very soon showed
that he had come to a good understanding with
them, and that he was working under their inspira-
tion. In iSo8 and 1809, the scheme became more
apparent. His brother, the Prophet, from a
Chap. X.] TECUMSEH AND THE PROPHET. 259
dreamer of dreams and seer of visions, became
invested with the character of an inspired teacher,
and so worked upon the superstition of the Indi-
ans that he was looked upon by tribes near and
remote with reverence and fear. Like other such
characters, he no doubt became more or less de-
ceived by his own fanaticism; and Tecumseh, from
pohcy or superstition, or both, also assumed to be
a believer, although he probably contrived to shape
the inspirations very much as he chose. He was
not so much of a fanatic as to lose his diplomatic
craft, for he contrived for a time to persuade
General Harrison (who was a very keen observer)
that his schemes w^ere all for the improvement
of the Indians, and were not aimed against the
whites; and no doubt such was his principal de-
sign, if it could have been compatible with white
settlements.
The purposes of Tecumseh became known to
the Governor General of Canada, and he warned
our government of them. It has generally been
conceded that while Sir James Craig desired to
dismember the union, he did not wish to turn
loose the savages upon the American settlements.
He prohibited the Maiden agency from furnishing
arms to the Indians. He expected rather to win
over a part of the States by diplomacy. He sent
John Henr)" into New England for that purpose,
and had a notion that the Union was about to
drop asunder. He, at least, may be acquitted of
any complicity with Tecumseh, and it is quite
260 INTRIGUES. HOSTILITIES. [Chap. X.
probable that the Indian agents, while fomenting
these troubles, and endeavoring to avenge some
personal grievances, were acting independently, and
in confidence that they would ultimately be re-
warded. There is much mystery about the whole
relations with Great Britain at this time. The
British Minister at Washington professed ignor-
ance of Henry's mission, and claimed that he had
no official relations with the Governor General. The
attack on the Chesapeake, made in 1807, was only
apologized for in 18 11, when the accumulation of
other grievances had made war inevitable. Perhaps
it is not entirely discreditable that Great Britain
has been very forgiving to officers who have ex-
ceeded instructions, in order to do what they
thought she would be glad to see done. In those
days it was certainly not deemed an unpardon-
able sin to try experiments on the United States.
The time at last came when Tecumseh's plans
could no longer be concealed. He failed in get-
ting control of many of the Indians on the bor-
der; and while some of them were friendly to him
and to the English, the most of the Wyandots,
Delawares, Senecas, and even the Shawanoes, re-
mained friendly to the United States. In the au-
tumn of 181 1, General Harrison began a move-
ment upon the hostile confederacy, and on the 7th
of November he fought the celebrated battle of
Tippecanoe, where the Prophet and his warriors
were routed, and the peace of that region was
secured till after Hull's delays had enabled the
Chap. X.] HULL'S DEPARTURE. 261
British to become aggressive, and to use the In-
dians effectively. Tecumseh betook himself to
Maiden, and thereafter his attachments were un-
concealed. He was well received and much fa-
vored, and obtained a high rank in the army.
The Michigan settlements could make no head-
way under such circumstances, and the local affairs
of the Territory remained in the same state of
discord.
Governor Hull left for Washineton before he
heard of the batde of Tippecanoe. While in that
city he made some useful suggestions concerning
the possession of the lakes by American vessels.
His earlier advice on this subject had been ju-
dicious, and at this time, on the strength of his
Revolutionary merits, he was well thought of as
a military officer. He had never commanded
any large force, nor performed any striking de-
tached service on a large scale. While some
of the more distinguished and successful soldiers
who afterwards had reason to complain of him
became suspicious of his fitness in the earliest
days of his command, he left Washington for the
west in good general repute.
His civil administration practically terminated
when he left for the seat of government. But
there was one last civil function performed in
the sad interval between his return from Canada
and the surrender which followed it, inclicatine a
o
dangerous omission in the previous legislation
of the Territory. On the 13th of August, 181 2,
262 OLD Laws abolished. [Chap. x.
a bill was passed forbidding die sale of intoxi-
cadng liquor to die Indians.
There are not many peculiar features in the
laws of the first Territorial period, but some fur-
ther reference is necessary to a few of them.
The want of a press, and the difficulty which
was found in determining the legal condition of
the country, led in 1810 to a very wise measure,
whereby all the French laws and customs, and
all English and Canadian statutes, as well as those
of the Northwest Territory and Indiana, were
abolished. This left the people subject only to
the laws of the United States, the Territorial
statutes, and the general rules of the common
law.
No counties were laid out during the time
of General Hull. The districts were the only di-
visions, and the district judges acted as local ad-
ministrators. Although there were highway com-
missioners, there were few roads, and those either
in Detroit or up and dowm the Detroit River.
There was no access to the interior except by
streams or Indian trails.
The money then in circulation was mostly
Spanish dollars, halves, quarters, pistareens, and
pieces of twelve and a half and six and a quarter
cents. In the absence of small coin the larger
coins were cut into quarters and eighths. Accounts
were kept in York currency, of two dollars and a
' half to the pound, or twelve and a half cents to
the shilling.
Chap. X.] LEGAL AFFAIRS. 263
Several of the early tax laws were never
printed, and are lost, and there is no index to
their contents. It seems, however, that revenue
was raised almost entirely from capitation taxes of
one dollar on each male over sixteen years, specific
taxes on dogs, horses, asses and mules, and upon
vehicles, and taxes and license fees on various
occupations. The tax on dogs was ingeniously
devised. It assessed fifty cents on a dog it only
one was owned, one dollar for the second, and
a dollar and a half for each beyond two. The
license law^ for liquor selling punished with se-
verity every dealer who allowed drunkenness or
noise on his premises, in-doors or without. It
seems that the deputy marshal, who was jailor,
had been charged a full tavern license; as a law
was passed requiring him to pay but one dol-
lar, instead of the greater sum, for the privilege of
entertaining his involuntary guests.
The district courts were abolished in 1810,
and there appears a hiatus for some years in
the published laws, as to compulsory jurisdiction
over the cases they had dealt with. Probably
they were remitted to the Supreme Court. Par-
ties in the district courts could waive a jury.
On the other hand, cases tried there by jury could
be appealed for a new jury trial in the Supreme
Court — a practice which afterwards, under a some-
what modified system, was found oppressive. Tes-
timony in equity cases could be taken in open
court, if desired. This was allowed in the United
States courts by the early judiciary act.
264 BURR'S CONSPIRACY. [Chap. X.
On the 19th day of January, 181 1, Judge Wood-
ward appeared in die legislative board clad in a
suit of American cloth, (as the record carefully
recites), and introduced resolutions in favor of
American industry. This was no doubt meant for
the audience. It is not reported what effect it
produced, at home or abroad.
In the early part of 1807, on the 23d day of
January, a law was passed which seems to have
been in some way connected with Burr's conspir-
acy, but which is not explained. It is a very
elaborate and carefully framed statute to prevent
and punish acts hostile to the peace of the
United States, reaching all attempts and incipient
preparations by land or water, authorizing the sei-
zure of persons, arms, supplies and boats or ves-
sels, and giving unusual powers to call out forces,
and punishing with great severity military officers
neglecting or refusing to respond.
It is known that Mr. Jefferson received infor-
mation in October, 1806, which excited his sus-
picions against Burr, and that he notified some ©f
the western governors to be on their guard. In
November, Colonel Daviess was foiled in an at-
tempt to have Burr held to bail in Kentucky ;
but the Ohio Legislature, before the middle of
December, passed an act from which ours was
copied. Whether there were any suspicious
movements in this region, or whether the act was
passed merely from abundant caution, is now un-
Chap. X. ] WAR. 265
known. The news of Burr's arrest could not have
reached Detroit for some time after its passage.
The war of 1812 and its consequences made
a sorrowful ending to a period of no political
progress, and which was not an auspicious open-
ing to our public career.
CHAPTER XI.
GOVERNOR hull's MILITARY ADMINISTRATION.
The discussion of the events of the War of
1812 in a purely military point of view, is not
within the purpose of this sketch, and not within
the writer's skill. But they were events of such
great political and social importance to Michigan
that an outline of them is necessary. This involves
unavoidably a reference to the surrender of Detroit.
Upon this, whatever may have been the laudable
desire of personal friends and affectionate relatives
to remove obloquy from an officer of very kind
heart and many good qualities, there has been a
substantial agreement among military men, and
no appreciable difference of opinion among the
citizens and officers who had most reason to
understand and observe the circumstances. The
details of the war, and of this most disgraceful
and lamentable occurrence in it, have been made
familiar by many historians, and givQn in the Field
Book of the War of 181 2, with much fullness as
well as with general accuracy, by Mr. Lossing,
who has done so much with pen and pencil to
perpetuate our military history. No attempt will
be made to go into these particulars at length.
Chap. XI.] DELAYS AND MISTAKES. 267
The conduct of the War Department of the
United States in delaying important preparations,
and in not using greater diHgence in sending out
knowledge of the declaration of war, was very
reprehensible. And so far as it really interfered
with any military successes, the excuse should be,
and has been, allowed to all officers and others
who did their best. But it is also no more than
just and reasonable to discard from allowance any
difficulties or dangers, which, although they might
have been possible, either had no effect upon
results or were not in fact existing ; and when
existing, were not of such a character that at the
time any one should have acted, or did rationally
act upon them. The delays and difficulties were
not confined to American movements and prepara-
tions ; and the antecedent fears of some wise men
and good officers at a distance, concerning the
precise nature of perils on the frontier, would
not all have been entertained had they been on
the spot, and known the condition of affairs on
both sides of the line.
Th-ere was opposition to the declaration of war,
and of course it was among the possibilities that
it would not be made. It appears from various
sources, and especially from those brought to
light in General Hull's behalf, that he w^as opposed
to declaring it at that time, and especially opposed
to it so early, as endangering his civil jurisdiction
and the people living under it. He claims also
to have been opposed to the invasion of Canada
268 HULL'S VIEWS. [Chap. XI
(although his previous letter may bear a different
construction) on similar grounds, and for the reason
that he regarded it as too strong to be overcome
by the American forces, and as likely to be
dangerously aggressive in return. He was re-
luctant to accept a military command, not because
of any doubt of his own ability, but as it now
appears for the reason, among others, that it
might involve an expectation on the part of the
Government that he would attempt to invade
Canada; while he saw fit to think it his paramount
duty not only to look chiefly to the interests of
the Michigan settlements, but to put his private
judgment on this policy against all other consider-
ations, and carry it out at all events. No one can
read his own defence, or the undisputed facts of
history, without seeing that he claims credit for
having been constantly moved by this sentiment.
He was acquitted on the charges of treason. It
was not believed he meant to deliberately injure
or betray his country. But while free from that
design, which would have made his memory as
black as Arnold's, he was not, if we accept his
own vindication of himself, free from that fault,
which, though not so disgraceful morally, is not
much less daneerous, and which has been the
destruction of many promising reputations, of
imagining that military officers have a right to
determine the policy of their government, and are
only bound to carry out such measures as they
deem expedient. An officer who prophesied failure
Chap. XI. j HULL'S QUALri'lES 269
before war was declared, unless his views were
accepted, and whose anterior views, as to the
means of preventing mishap, were not carried out
by Congress or the War Department, was cer-
tainly in danger of fulfilling his prophecies, and of
convincing himself that the failure was inevitable.
If Hull was really as frank in his prophecies to
the War Department before his appointment, as
he was increnious in findino- out afterwards rea-
sons why he ought to have failed, there can be
no doubt that his selection, reluctant or unre-
luctant, was one of the worst faults that could
have been char^^ed ao^ainst that office. But this
is hardly credible. At any rate it was not known
to the public, and is very doubtful in fact. The
General had a reputation for bravery in the
Revolution that was honestly earned. The miser-
able squabbles at Detroit had not become so far
known outside that any one had discovered his
personal foibles and infirmity of purpose; and ver)
good soldiers have had weak points, and been led
into ridiculous positions by such anno)ances, with-
out losing their military qualities. The selection,
so far as we can now see, was justified by exist-
ing appearances. With the aid of subsequent
events to suggest a full inquiry, we can now, with
that ex post facto wisdom, which no one then could
be expected to possess, easily see that the indecision
and readiness to avoid trouble which led him into
so much mischief, and his fussy attempts to per-
suade others and himself that he had some energy.
270 HULL'S ANTECEDENTS. [Chap. XL
had not been of entirely new origin, although ad-
vancing years had made it easier to yield to them
and harder to resist them. He had never, durino-
his Revolutionary career, held command of an
army, or any command of any great responsibility,
or one which called for much more than personal
bravery and devotion, which he certainly had shown.
He had been sent on two missions to Canada,
one to General Haldimand, to seek the delivery
of the posts, in i 784, and one to Governor Simcoe,
during the pendency of Jay's negotiations, to ar-
range for the access of commissioners to the
western Indians in our Territory. In the former
he accomplished nothing. In the latter he was
certainly evaded and misled, by the address of
Simcoe, and showed very little sagacity. In both
he had talked with vigor and spirit, and in both
he had been easily satisfied. The British gover-
nors had resorted to much personal flattery and
attention, which he greatly appreciated, and prob-
ably produced some effect on his judgment by so
doing. In the steps which led to the final sur-
render. General Brock deliberately and understand-
ingly calculated on the result, and worked on his
fears with a confidence which would have utterly
destroyed the British expedition, if any one else
had succeeded to, or assumed command. It is not,
indeed, to General Hull's discredit, that his char-
acter was open enough to enable those who were
dealing with him to discern his defects. And they
were of that character which are very seldom
recognized by their possessor.
Chap. XL] DECLARATION OF WAR 2~1
The war was declared on the i8th of June,
1812. News of it should have reached General
Hull several days earlier than it did; and, as he
received one communication of that date from
Washington, written earlier in the day, by express
on the 24th, it may be assumed that the same
diligence should have informed him on that day,
or the next, of the declaration. News reached
Maiden on the 30th of June. It reached Hull,
near the River Raisin, on the 2nd of July. As
declarations of war are not made in a corner,
and as the British would not have been foolish
enough to have no means of immediate knowl-
edge at Washington, there was no reason why
the British post should not have been informed
as early as any Americans near by. Maiden was
practically nearer Cleveland, where Hull's dispatch
was sent from, than Hull himself was. But there
was equally no reason why every exertion should
not have been made to inform the Americans.
The fall of Mackinaw w^as due directly to the
fault of the War Department in failing to send
news. The- fall of Detroit may be palliated by it
just so far as it was affected by it, which was very
little, if at all, as this happened six weeks later.
Governor Hull spent the winter of 1811-12
in WashincTton, and knew^ all that was croino- on.
It is possible that he entertained the idea that a
Bridsh \var would be avoided. He felt much
more kindly to the Bridsh than most Americans
did, except in a small part of the country; and on
272 HULL'S STRANGE VIEWS. [Chap. XI.
his journey down, he had been furnished with a
passage across the lake by a British armed ves-
sel detailed on purpose; — a handsome courtesy
recognized by our journals, and creditable to both
parties. But he himself expected Indian hostili-
ties, and he knew perfectly well that the adminis-
tration expected war with Great Britain. He knew
that the force under his command was raised with
that anticipation, if not for that immediate service.
He also knew that Congress had, by sufficient
majorities, adopted legislation that would have
been absurd except in that view. The infatuation
that could make any reasonable man suppose war
would not be declared, after all these prelimina-
ries, was marvellous, and would be incredible, if
we did not know there were sections of the coun-
try, and other more able men than General Hull,
among his old neighbors, that entertained that no-
tion. That a general sent out to the frontier
with an army, did not at least feel bound to act
in all his course as if war might be declared at
any moment, and then one party or the other must
do some fiorhtinof, was one of the fatalities of
Hull's unfortunate career. No administration could
have delayed it, and it is strange he should have
thought so, it such was his notion.
The invasion of Canada was very openly dis-
cussed early in the winter. Before accepting com-
mand, General Hull had, in writing, expressed his
views on the subject, in which he plainly expressed
his opinion in favor of putting at Detroit a force
Chap. XL] PREPARATIONS FOR WAR 273
adequate to protect that place, as an alternative,
and not as an appendage to a plan for getting
control of the lakes ; and that, with Detroit pro-
tected, the Indians could be kept from Maiden,
and the British, unable to hold Canada without
them, would leave it, and the command of the
lakes would be obtained without a fleet. Mr.
Eustis did not corroborate his statements concern-
ing his further representations, as being quite as
positive as he asserted them from recollection to
have been. Before the middle of January, the
President had been not authorized but required
to add to the regular army a force of more than
25,000 men. On the 6th of February he was
authorized to accept 50,000 volunteers. On the
14th of March a loan of eleven millions was au-
thorized. On the 4th of April an embargo was
laid. And during all this time the necessary sup-
plementary laws were passed, for supplies, ord-
nance and ships, and for organizing the customary
corps and appliances for the staff department.
It was during this period that the President
called for 1,200 Ohio volunteers, and planned a
movement to Detroit with an army including those
and the 4th Regiment of United States Infantry,
which had been engaged in the Battle of Tippe-
canoe, and was commanded by Colonel Miller,
who afterwards obtained distinction on the Nia^'ara
frontier, and was made famous by his modest ''111
try, sirr Hull, after declining command in the
first instance, afterwards accepted it, and did so
18
274
QUALITY OF THE TROOPS [Chap. XI,
unconditionally. The volunteering went on very
rapidly, and much greater numbers came in than
had been called for, but all were accepted. Three
regiments of foot and a considerable force of
cavalry were mustered in. Duncan McArthur,
James Findlay, and Lewis Cass, were chosen
colonels of the first, second and third regiments.
Their other field officers were Majors James Denny
and William A. Trimble of the first, Thomas Moore
and Thomas B. Van Home of the second, and
Robert Morrison and J. R. Munson of the third.
It is not known or reported that there was in the
whole command an unworthy officer of any
standinor. Some of them were men of tried
bravery and personal distinction. All the superior
officers were already well known and trustworthy.
Colonel Miller's command was one never surpassed
in soldierly qualities, and Duncan McArthur was
spoken of by Brock as "an officer of high repu-
tation." All of them soon earned it.
Some stress has been laid by Hull's apologists
upon the fact that the troops were chiefly militia
men, and not under proper subordination. They
were no part of the ordinary militia, in the proper
sense of the term, and were the same kind of
troops that in all our wars have been the chief
reliance of the government. One of Hull's con-
spicuous faults was his notion (drawn partly, per-
haps, from his old experience with Steuben) that
troops who were not trained and apparelled ac-
cording to the army regulations were not to be
Chap. XI. J VOLUNTEERS. 275
implicitly trusted. He had before made trouble
in Michigan by this finical disposition, and it may
have been one of the causes of dislike which
arose in the army quite early. No one doubts
that it is advantageous to secure uniformity and
system in little things as well as in great, w^hen it
can be done without too great delay and the sacri-
fice of other things. But it is idle to expect vol-
unteers to become martinets, and it is very ques-
tionable how far it is best to go in that direction.
In the wars of the west, there was a great deal
of hard fighting in a very rough way, and those
were generally found to be the best commanders
who least annoyed their men. It is very certain that
if there was insubordination it did not interfere very
seriously with the proper work of the army, although
there was some which arose from its being kept
back from its work. This fault-finding with the
volunteers is the less to be respected, if the court
was justified in finding him guilty on the specific
charge of neglecting the inspection, training and
exercise of these troops, during the period between
his arrival at Detroit and the surrender. The
testimony covered the whole period after he took
command; but the court very justly exonerated
him from liability for such neglect on the march
through the wilderness, but condemned him for the
rest.
On the 30th day of June, Hull and his army,
after a tedious and fatiguing march of nearly three
weeks, arrived at the Rapids of the Maumee, a
276
VESSELS SENT FROM MAUMEE. CAPTURE. IChap. XI.
few miles above the present city of Toledo. On
the 24th, as before stated, Hull had received let-
ters from Washington saying nothing about the
declaration of war, but urging haste. He had
also heard from Sejcretary Atwater, at Detroit,
that affairs looked threatening. On the 24th
Colonel McArthur also received letters showing
that an immediate declaration was certain, and that
it must before that have been made. General
Hull refused to credit this, although coming from
sure sources, because he could not imagine any
one could be informed earlier than himself. On
the first day of July he sent forward, by vessel,
some of his invalids, his baggage and entrenching
tools, and hospital stores, and a trunk containing
all his instructions and military papers, with the
muster rolls of the whole army. Three officers'
wives went as passengers. A smaller vessel, under
charge of a surgeon's mate, was sent up at the
same time. The army moved on by land the same
day.
The laroer vessel sailed throug^h the main
channel of the Detroit River, which passes in a
narrow space between Maiden and Bois-blanc
Island, and was there captured on the next day.
The smaller vessel followed the American channel
west of Grosse He, and reached Detroit without
interruption. The first specification against Gen-
eral Hull under the charge of treason, related to
sending the vessels to Detroit, with his sick men,
papers and baggage. Although he successfully
Chap. XL] ARRIVAL AT SPRINGWELLS. 277
pleaded to the jurisdiction of the court martial to
try him for treason, the court were satisfied he
had no treasonable design, and so certified, and
also acquitted him of criminal neglect in the
matter. It is very doubtful whether he knew of
the transmission of his papers before the vessel
sailed. But as they were in the hands of his son,
whom he had a right to trust, he was not at
fault for not making special inquiry on the subject
of their transmission, and so the court found.
It was discovered, some time before they
reached the Maumee, that those among the Indians
whose fidelity was doubted had already left the
country and gone to Canada. The number of
these from Ohio was not very great. The road
to Detroit was not difficult, and it was traversed
at the rate of twenty miles a day. One day (the
4th of July) was spent at the Huron River, near
Browmstown, in building a bridge. Having learned
of the declaration of war the day after leaving
Maumee, there was some anxiety about an attack
from Maiden. But no difficulty occurred, and the
troops arrived at the Sandhill, at Springwells, just
below Detroit, on the evening of the 5th of July.
This spot, just above the present fort, was then re-
markable for a multitude of small springs or natural
wells, amounting to hundreds, a few^ feet apart,
and generally coming up to within a few inches
of the top of the bluff, in holes of from three to
six inches in diameter. On the continuation of
the knoll, not many rods below, were three Indian
278 ENTRY INTO CANADA. [Chap. XI.
mounds, circular in form, one of which was covered
w^idi timber. These were removed when the
present Fort Wayne was built, and were found
full of Indian remains and ornaments. The sand-
hill and springs, which have been destroyed by
removal of much of the bank, reached consider-
ably further up the river than the fort. This
beautiful spot was known among the French as
Belle Fontaine, and was, on account of its dryness
of soil and salubrity, a favorite camping ground.
It was the camping place of the troops who,
twenty years later, were sent out against Black
Hawk ; and six years thereafter, for a few hours,
of the motley array that were enlisted in the
so-called Patriot War. As a point commanding
the river both up and down from the only bend
in it, the place is of military value and now fortified.
Immediately on reaching Detroit, the army
clamored to be led to Maiden. Colonel Cass
had been sent to that fort to communicate with
the commander, St. George, concerning the persons
captured on the Cuyahoga schooner. He had
opportunities to see its condition, and made it
known to the general. The latter put himself
upon the terms of his Washington letters, and
refused to move without orders. On the 9th, the
orders came, authorizing him to commence offen-
sive operations; and, after dallying a day or two,
he moved across to Sandwich, at the centre of
the present town of Windsor, and issued a spirited
proclamation, which was penned by Cass, and which
Chap. XI. | HULL'S INERTNESS. 279
General Brock found much in his way.' This
ended his serious work of invasion. Cass and
McArthur, with others, made several expeditions
and reconnoisances in force, and demonstrated the
weakness of that part of the Province, — McArthur
pushing up the Thames as far as the Moravian
towns, and bringing back considerable supplies,
and Cass reaching the Canard River, five miles
above Maiden, and driving back from the bridge,
where a battery was erected, its original guard
and reinforcements sent up from Maiden, and only
pausing when darkness set in. The refusal of
Hull to follow up their advantage was a charge
on which he was convicted. The garrison at Mai-
den was actually preparing to evacuate the place,
in expectation of an attack which they had no
force to resist.
I The following passages from Brock's Life are fully sustained by
Brock's official and private letters :
" The invasion of the western district by Brigadier General Hull, and
the artful and threatening language of his proclamation, were productive
at the outset of very unfavorable effects among a large portion of the
inhabitants of Upper Canada; and so general was the despondency, that
the Norfolk militia, consisting, we believe, chiefly of settlers of American
origin, peremptorily refused to march.
* * * -jf i« ]\Jq|. only among the miiitia was a disposition evinced
to submit tamely, but five hundred in the western district sought the
protection of the enemy. It is true that the people were then far removed
from the seat of government, and the more subject to hostile influence,
as they were principally composed of French Canadians and of the natives
of the United States, or their immediate descendants ; but even the
Indians, who were located on the Grand River, in the heart of .the pro-
vince, positively refused, with a few exceptions, to take up arms ; and
they announced their intention, after the return of some of their chiefs
from General Hull, to remain neutral, as if they wished the authorities
to believe that they would remain in peace in the midst of war." — Ltje
oj Brock, p. 204-5.
280 WEAKNESS OF iMALDEN. [Chap. XL
General Brock, complaining of the apathy or
disaffection of the people, referred to the success
of ''one Watson, a surveyor from Montreal, of a
desperate character," in penetrating unopposed
with a small cavalry force as far as Westminster.'
This was no doubt Captain Joseph Watson, at one
time Secretary to the Governor and Judges, and
City Register.
The story of this period has been amply told
by many others. Maiden was exposed and weak,
and its condition was known to the army, not only
from Cass, but from spies and prisoners. The
capture was certain, and would have given the
Americans command of the Detroit River and its
approaches, as well as broken up the Indian head-
quarters ; and the line of supplies would have
been open by land to Ohio and Indiana, as he
had anticipated in his manifesto of March 6th to
the Department. The Indians along the Ameri-
can side of the Detroit River did not go over to
the British until the early part of August, and then
did it unwillingly, if not under compulsion; and if
Maiden had been taken, it would probably never
have happened. No vessel could have gone up
and down the river without coming within easy
range of batteries. The British vessels were not
formidable against land-batteries, and, more-
over, during all this time the American ves-
sel, Adams, was idle at the navy-yard on
the River Rouge, repairing, but capable of
I liiock's Life. 199.
Chap. XI.] DELAYS. 281
Speedy fitting, and stronger than the Queen
Charlotte. Within a very short period after the
surrender she was armed by the British with i8
guns, as the " Detroit," and on the 8th of October
was captured near Buffalo, with the Caledonia, by
Lieutenant Jesse D. Elliott, of the navy. She was
burned and General Hull lost some of his bagp-ao-e
and papers in her.
Up to the fourth of August, there was no in-
timation given by the General to the Secretary
of War, that he felt any anxiety for lack of forces
or support. In his letter of July 9th, in answer
to that allowing him to move forward, he does in-
deed say that he does not think his force equal
to the reduction of Amherstburg, and that the Sec-
retary must not be too sanguine, but that he will
do everything possible to be done. But on the
2 2d he speaks much more decidedly. He writes
that he is making preparations for the siege, which
will be ready in two weeks; that his army is able
to take Maiden by storm, but thinks it would be
with too great a sacrifice under present circum-
stances; that he is making preparations for an
attempt on the Queen Charlotte, and that if Mai-
den was in his possession he could march his
army to Niagara or York in a very short time.
At this time he knew there was to be no lake
force, and he asked for no reinforcements, and the
tone of his despatch was that of a resolute and
firm commander. His communications had not
been disturbed, and no detachments of Indians
282
DELAYS. [Chap. XI
had been sent across the river. The ordinary
mails came through in about fifteen days from
Washington, and he had never sent expresses,
which could have gone in half the time, or resorted
to any cypher or other device to prevent mischief
by this interception. He did not inform the Sec-
retary of the opinions or urgency of his officers,
but left him to understand that they were all of
one mind with him; and in every instance when
he resorted to a council, he followed it if a single
vote of an inferior officer made a tie or a ma-
jority against action, though opposed by the su-
perior officers ; and when the majority was in favor
of prompt action, he as uniformly disregarded it.
The long delay, and the General's obstinacy in
refusing to allow any decisive action, led to all
the worst evils that followed. Knowing the delay
in his own advices, he must have known the Brit-
ish would get news of the war to the upper coun-
try first, as he was in the only American line of
travel. He took no steos to forward advices, and
does not seem to have paid any heed to the ex-
istence of Mackinaw, or the dangers it must in-
evitably run from a surprise. It was a very im-
portant post in his own civil jurisdiction, and the
lives of its garrison and people were as important
as those of his Detroit neiofhbors. He had dwelt
much in his former communications to the gov-
ernment upon the influence of the trading com-
panies over the Indians, and their inveterate ha-
tred to the Americans; and the prospect of the
Chap. XI.J CAPTURE OP MACKINAW. 283
capture of Mackinaw, and of the consequent let-
ting loose of the northern tribes upon the lower
country, was one which could not have escaped
his notice, if he had given ordinary thought to his
duties. The capture of that post, and the rising
of these tribes, are dwelt upon in his apology
and defence as justifying his timid course after-
wards. But they were inevitable, unless by some
vigorous course at Detroit. The rallying place
of British influence at Maiden could have been
broken up; and he had, in March, declared that
this would be an effectual measure, as no doubt
it would have been. If he had been more dili-
gent beforehand, and less astounded afterwards,
the long list of massacres on our borders would
have been diminished, if not entirely prevented.
The news of war reached the British post at
the Island of St. Joseph, and the American friends
and abettors of the British at the Sault, about
the middle of July. The force of regulars sent
from there was forty-two men and four officers,
which probably comprised most of the garrison.
On the 1 6th of July they started for Mackinaw.
The expedition consisted, besides, of the armed
brig Caledonia (afterwards captured with a large
cargo of furs at Buffalo, and doing good service
under Lieutenant Turner in Perry's fleet), 250 Ca-
nadians, servants and agents of the Northwest
Company, and traders, and 500 Indians, the sava-
ges being under command of Robert Dickson,
and John Askin, Junior, and his son. The white
284 CAPTURE OF MACKINAW. [Chap. XI.
Canadians were led by John Johnston, Crawford,
Pothier, Ermatinger, La Croix, Rolette, P>anks,
Livingston and others, all traders. From 80 to
100 Indians joined them on the way, and they
found about 70 allies In Mackinaw.
Lieutenant Porter Hanks, a brave and estim-
able gentleman, commanded at Mackinaw, with a
garrison of 57 effective men and officers. On the
16th, he had hearci from an interpreter some
rumor of an intention of the Indians at St. Joseph
to make trouble, and the coolness of the chiefs at
Mackinaw induced him to believe mischief was
brewing. He consulted with the American gentle-
men on the island, and it was agreed to send
Captain Michael Dousman of the militia, who
volunteered to go out and watch the Indians. He
started in the evening near sunset, and was
captured about 15 miles out. The British landed
that night on the side of the island away from the
fort, at a beach ever since known as the British
Landing. Dousman gave his parole to take the
people and assemble them on the west side of the
island, and put them under protection of the
British guard, warning them not to go to the fort,
and telling them, if any resistance was made from
the garrison, there would be an indiscriminate
massacre of the whole population. He also agreed
not to inform the commander of anything. Pursu-
ing these directions, he succeeded in collecting the
people, and in concealing all movements from the
garrison, until the surgeon Dr. Day, passing
Chap XI.| CAPTURE OF MACKINAW. 285
through the village, noticed and inquired into the
excitement, and informed Hanks, who at once
prepared for defence. He discovered, however,
that the height known as old Fort Holmes, a short
distance back of the fort, and completely command-
ing it, was already occupied by the British with
artillery, and that resistance was useless. This
was the first notice he received of the declaration
of war. He did not surrender until he had sent
three American gentlemen, besides his officers,
with a flag, to ascertain the force ot the enemy,
and obtained honorable terms; nor until the un-
animous opinion of both garrison and citizens
declared it necessary.
The prisoners marched out with the honors of
war, and were paroled ; and Lieutenant Hanks
and his associate officers arrived at Detroit with
the news, on the 29th of July. The inhabitants
who refused to take the oath of allegiance were
compelled to leave the island. Some of them be-
came more than submissive, and were active and
willing renegades. The conduct of the Indians at
Mackinaw, as well as subsequendy in the lower
country, showed that they were sufficiently under
control of some, at least, of the British officers and
agents, to restrain their savagery until allowed to
indulge it by their white leaders ; and while these
deserve such credit as is due for any forbearance,
the responsibility for outrages actually committed
in the presence and under control of similar
agents elsewhere, is jusdy chargeable to all who
intentionally favored or allowed them.
286 DISLOYALTY IN THE NORTHERN POSTS. [Chap. XI.
Whatever allowance may be made for the old
predilections of those traders who had taken up
their abode in the United States, without electing
to retain their British allegiance, their voluntary
and unnecessary enlistment in such expeditions
was a plain act of treason, for which they deserved
punishment. But by some strange oversight in
the subsequent legislation of Congress, or by an
interpretation of their statutes which was at the
extreme verge of liberality, every one of the
settlers at Mackinaw, Green Bay, or the Sault
Ste. Marie, who occupied land on the first of
July, 1812, was confirmed in it, as a donation and
not as a right, although the testimony was clear
that nearly the whole Green Bay settlement, and
many of the people at Mackinaw and the Sault,
were actively disloyal. How far, if at all, Dous-
man, against whom the land office affidavits were
very strong, was engaged in active disaffection,
was never judicially examined. Some of the
commissioners regarded the charges as malicious.
The arrival of Lieutenant Hanks disturbed
Hull's quiet, and gave him natural alarm, and he
called for reinforcements on the day when he
received the news. But he spoke in the same
confident tone to the Secretary, and to Governors
Scott and Meigs, as he had done before, with the
air of a general who had been constantly on the
alert, saying : '* The operations of this army have
been hitherto successful, and it is of the greatest
importance that the objects should be effected."
Chap. XI.] INDIAN DEFECTION 287
It is needless to add that those patriotic gover-
nors acted with their usual promptness, and that
Detroit was not lost through their remissness, nor
from any reason to fear their duty would not be
performed.
Colonel Proctor reached Maiden a day or two
before the arrival of Hanks. He came by Lake
Erie and brought no force with him. But the
news from Mackinaw had its natural effect in de-
ciding the Brownstown Wyandots, under Walk-in-
the-Water, to submit or adhere to the British.
Information being received that Captain Henry
Brush of Ohio was coming up with supplies, Hull,
on the 4th of August, detached Major Van Home
of Findlay's Regiment to meet and escort him.
Proctor sent over a force of soldiers and Indians
to intercept him, and he was, after a gallant fight,
compelled to return. On the day when he sent
down this detachment, General Hull had written
to the Secretary of War, informing him of the
movements on the upper Thames by Major
Chambers of the British army, whom he expected
to hear from as gathering the Indians and militia to
reinfdrce Maiden, but who, as it turned out, failed
to accomplish anything, because they would not
join him. He also mentioned Proctor's arrival,
and the capture of the Brownstown Indians, b\'
whites and Indians from Maiden, as not unwilling
captives. He speaks of consulting the principal
officers, and says, as if there had been no discord,
that an attempt to storm the fort without artillery
288 PECULIAR PRETEXTS. LChap. XI.
was deemed unadvisable. He also shadows forth
the Idea that possibly he may be compelled to re-
cross the river to keep open his communications
with Ohio, and states that "I am constantly obliged
to make a strong detachment to convey the pro-
visions between the foot of the rapids and De-
troit."
Some of these statements are singular, when
compared with the testimony and his own defence.
Van Home's was the first detachment he had ever
sent out for the purpose, and this, in view of the
known facilities of Proctor to send troops and In-
dians over from Maiden, was represented by Mc-
Arthur, at least, to be, as it was, grossly insufficient.
One of the charo^es Hull was convicted of was
neglect of duty in not keeping open his commu-
nications, and in sending out Van Home without
adequate force. He leaves the Secretary to infer
that he has always kept them open, that a large
force was necessary to do it, and that it might
need a movement of his entire army. This move-
ment meant, as was afterwards avowed, a conver-
sion of the whole army into a couple of garri-
sons at Brownstown and on the Raisin, which
would have left Detroit with no considerable force,
and which would almost have insured the capture
in detail of the whole line. But in fact this pro-
ject of re-crossing the river, though submitted to
a council on the first of August, had been unan-
imously scouted; and the opinion was given, with
no serious, (if any) dissent, that the only effectual
Chap. XT.| MAIT, CAPTURED. 289
way to keep open communications with Ohio was
to take Maiden. The General assented to this,
and, upon the assurance that the artillery would be
ready in a day or two, it was carried by Hull's
casting vote that they should wait for the artillery.
At this time one of the two guns was ready, and
the other nearly so, and prepared in five days
after. All the colonels were in favor of an im-
mediate movement.
The mail was sent on immediately behind Van
Home, with a small mounted escort, which caught
up with him and was captured during the en-
gagement. It is a little singular, and shows dili-
gence and activity in Proctor, as well as a lack
of secrecy or fidelity in some one in the Amer-
ican camp, that both \'an Home's and Colonel
Miller's detachments, which started in the even-
ings of the 4th and 8th of August, were encoun-
tered in the morning at Brownstown and Mon-
guagon, by forces sent across the river by boats
during the night. Monguagon, the present site of
Wyandotte, (the old home of Walk-in-the- Water,)
is about six miles from Maiden, and Brownstown
not far from the same distance, and the river is
very wide, with islands intervening. The news
must have gone down on the Canada side much
faster than the troops did on the American side.
The letters captured in the mail at Browns-
town were very dismal, and furnished Brock with
the intelligence of Hull's state of mind, which gave
19
290
HULL RETREATS FROM CANADA. [Chap. XL
him confidence to assume a bold front and count
on success.'
On the 6th of August, the artillery being
ready, General Hull issued an order to attack
Maiden on the 8th. On the 7th everything was
completely prepared, when (as Hull says, because
of certain letters received from Generals Porter
and Hall on the Niagara, intimating that a force
was moving westward from that quarter,) he
suddenly, and against the indignant remonstrances
of his officers, ordered a retreat across the river ;
and the army, except a small detachment left in
an entrenchment, crossed that evening. In his
then asserted desire to open his communications,
and his subsequent profession of a wish to spare
the effusion of blood, which has since come to the
front as a reason for self-gratulation for daring to
be governed by humanity, he proposed to take his
whole army back to the Maumee. How it would
tend to save the blood of the Michigan settlers,
to leave them unprotected, and with the assurance
that the American army would not help them,
to the tender mercies of the thousands of savages
who were expected to overrun the country, is not
manifest. His whole defence against the principal
charp^es aofainst him is based on this notion of
saving blood. But when he came out from
Washington, if he did not expect to fight British,
he did expect an Indian war, and all its attendant
horrors. He knew that Tecumseh was determined
I Brock's Life, p. 267.
Chap. XI. ] HUTX DEMORALIZED. 291
to clear the land of the Americans, and that the
natural process of depopulation was by unlimited
massacre and barbarity, and that this would come
unless there was fighting. The whole experience
of the west had shown that when the Indians once
begin mischief they never end it until they are
thoroughly put down ; and that the first sign of
timidity is an infallible invitation to the use of
tomahawk and scalping knife. That Hull would
not have quailed from danger that was merely
personal is very possible. He had certainly been
brave enough in his youth. But his conduct
during the whole period, from the arrival of Hanks
to the surrender of Detroit, can only be honestly
as well as charitably explained by supposing him
to have been completely unmanned and confounded
by his responsibilities and surroundings, which
before he had as strangely failed to appreciate.
He was entirely lacking in executive ability; yet
fond of asserting himself. He was afraid to take
decisive action, and a chronic procrastlnator, and
these defects relieved him from the most serious
imputations of disaffection which would otherwise
have been inevitable. If he had not been found
lacking in ordinary military qualities, no chant}-
could have saved him from worse charges.
There is no doubt, as he complains, that from
this time forth, and probably very much earlier,
his officers did not conceal their opinions of his
conduct. The proposal to retire upon the Mau-
mee was met by an unequlvoca^l avowal that his
292 DISTRUST OF OFFICERS. MYSTERY. (Chaf. XI.
troops would not follow him. It became clear
that he had become disposed to avoid any fight-
ing. It is quite likely that thus early he saw in-
dications that his command might be divested, then
or soon after, and active measures enforced by
others; for when the time drew near for the final
act in the drama, the two most active volunteer
colonels were on detached service. As early as
the 1 2th of August, Cass and McArthur had in-
formed Governor Meigs that Hull had talked of
a surrender, and they had then determined to dis-
place him. And he probably had either informa-
tion, or else sufficient shrewdness left, not only to
know that they would never tolerate a surrender,
but to know, or infer, how they would have pre-
vented it; and he managed to thwart them.
During the interval of five days, when his army
was awaiting the completion of the siege guns
for attacking Maiden, occurred the most tragic
affair for which he was immediately responsible,
and for which neither General Hull, nor any one
else, has ever given an explanation. That he ap-
preciated the act, or desired, or actually expected
the horrid result, his worst enemy would never
have charged against him. But, so far as can be
known, he kept his action from the knowledge of
his officers, and yet confided it to some one who
made it known to the enemy. And it may be
remarked that the coincidences of evil are so
many, that it seems almost certain either that Hull
himself was a traitor, which no one supposes, or
Chap. XI. J HULL'S MESSAGE TO CHICAGO. 293
that he had a spy or traitor constantly with him,
having means of getting possession of his plans.
But that person, whoever he was, has not been
detected and identified, and no reasonable sus-
picions have ever been aimed at any one.
On the 9th of August, 1812, a Potawatamie
chief named Winimeg, or the Catfish^ — said to have
been a faithful friend to the Americans, and a
private friend to the Kinzie family, — made his ap-
pearance at Fort Dearborn, with a letter from
General Hull to Captain Heald, the commander,
ordering him to evacuate the post and proceed
with his command overland to Detroit, leaving it
to his discretion to dispose of the public property
as he thought fit. Chicago was at this time sur-
rounded with Indians, and had been for some time
in a state of siege. Colonel Anderson, of the
Michigan Second Regiment, at the Raisin, notified
General Hull on the 5th of August, that the Indi-
ans were swarming in from the west towards
Maiden. Winimeg privately informed Mr. Kinzie
that he knew what was in the letter, and urged
him to dissuade Heald from obeying it, or to per-
suade him, if he did so, to depart at once, before
the surrounding Indians found it out. But as the
post was strong and well supplied, he urged that
it would be safe to hold out, as they had done
some time, for reinforcements. The Indians never
made much impression on any defended post, and
this advice was wise ; but Heald insisted he must
obey orders, and yet dallied several days and ag-
294 CHICAGO EVACUATED. [Chap. Xl.
gravated the danger. His associates and the
civihans in the fort, who were experienced in In-
dian ways, protested against his giving up the fort;
but he was stubborn. He says in his report that
the Indians knew of his instructions as soon as
he did himself, and came flocking in from all
quarters to receive the goods which he was to
distribute. During the delay, Tecumseh sent over
a message to the Indians informing them that
Hull had crossed the river, and would no doubt
soon surrender, and calling on them to arm and
come over. In spite of all this, Heald was infatu-
ated enough to imagine that the Indians had such
a regard for him that they would not molest him
if he set out. On the 13th, Captain Wells, who
was a near relative of Mrs. Heald, and an adopted
Indian chief, having heard of the state of things
at Chicago, came over from Fort Wayne with 30
Miamis to escort Heald thither if he should be
mad enough to leave. Wells failed to make any
more impression on Heald than the rest had done,
although he assured him it would be almost cer-
tain death to go out. On the 14th Heald de-
stroyed the liquor, and surplus arms and ammu-
nition, and gave everything else to the Indians, who,
although angry at the waste, committed no violence
before he left the fort. There were some chiefs
who were friendly to the garrison, though hostile
to the Americans, and they warned Heald that the
Indians were enraged at his destruction of the
liquor and ammunition, and would murder them
Chap. XI.] MASSACRE AT CHICAGO. 29-^)
all. One, the Black Partridge, took off a medal
which he had received from the United States,
and returned it, saying his young men could not
be restrained from shedding their blood, and he
could not wear it as an enemy. He, however,
was active in saving several ot the party.
On the 15th, they set out from the fort, at nine
o'clock, with drums beating and in military array.
Wells had blacked his face, in token of expected
death. They had marched about a mile and a half
from the fort, when they were attacked from be-
hind a row of sand hills. The Miamis took no
part on either side, and after a bloody fight, in
which ^S out of 66 soldiers were killed, as well
as two women and twelve children, the remainder
surrendered and were spared, though made pris-
oners and treated very harshly. The story of the
massacre, and of the sad fortunes of the survivors,
has been made familiar by the narratives of Mrs.
Helm, Mrs. Kinzie, and others, and need not be
enlarged upon. Mrs. Helm afterwards discovered
the scalps of some of the victims, for which boun-
ties had been paid by Colonel Proctor, and her
fearless exposure of the fact led to further im-
prisonment and insult.
In his narrative, and in his defence, Hull claims
to have had no military authority except over
Michigan and the army at Detroit, and towards
the Maumee. He even asserts the fall of Chicago
as having added to the Maiden troops before the
surrender, and as having been referred to in a
296 BATTLE OF MONGUAGON. [Chap. XI.
letter received by him on the 6th of August.
Chicago was not connected with any of his com-
mand; and the mystery remains why he ventured
to assume such an authority, and why, if having
authority, he could have been so utterly ignorant
and reckless as to send what, if obeyed, was a
death warrant. And it is still further a mystery
what spy or traitor at once disclosed and circu-
lated the news. It is said to have become known
afterwards that the Indians were acting under
British orders, but whether this be so or not, they
certainly got their intelligence from that quarter,
and it started as soon as Winimeg, who did not
eet his own knowledoe from Hull.
On the 8th of August, Colonel Miller set out
with a detachment towards the Raisin, to join
Captain Brush. They rested at Monguagon that
night. The next morning they had an encounter
with a strong force of British and Indians, in
which Miller was victorious. He was compelled,
however, after waiting in vain for provisions, to
return.
On the I 2th or 13th, Brock arrived at Maiden,
with 40 regulars and 260 militia. At this time
the American outpost in Sandwich had been
evacuated, and the British began constructing
batteries near by. On the evening of the 14th,
they were discovered, and Captain Dalliba asked
leave to attack them, and said : '' Sir, if you will
give me permission, I will clear the enemy on the
opposite shore from the lower batteries." The
Chap. XL] McARTHUR AND CASS DETACHED. 297
General answered : " Mr. Dalliba, I will make an
agreement with the enemy, that if they will never
fire on me, I will never fire on them," completing
his answer with the aphorism, " Those who live
in glass houses, must take care how they throw
stones."
The Canada batteries were in the same place
with those which had been erected on the 5 th of
July, just before Hull had arrived, which had been
broken up by Captain Dalliba, under Major
Whistler's orders, before Hull's arrival, from the
24-pounder battery at the lower end of the town.
Whistler was then in command. On the 14th,
Hull ordered McArthur and Cass to march with a
considerable force to the River Raisin, by an
inland trail running back from the border, by the
way which has since been known as the Ypsilanti
and Tecumseh trail, striking the Raisin some dis-
tance up, at Godfroy's trading post. This road had
been taken by General Wayne when he first came
to Detroit. Captain Brush had been directed, on
the 14th, to go up and meet them. On the 15th,
Brock unmasked his battery, and sent over a
demand for a surrender, coupled with the stereo-
typed threat, that if resisted, he could not control
the Indians. This demand was received by Hull
about 10 o'clock in the morninor. At this time a
court of inquiry was sitting to examine into the
surrender at Mackinaw. Upon seeing the white
Hag, Colonel Miller adjourned the court, and
Captains Fuller and vSnelling were sent to receive
298
BRITISH SUMMONS REJECTED. [Chap. XI.
the flacr. Lieutenant Colonel McDonald and
Captain Gleig were the bearers, and were taken
blindfolded to the house of Major Henry J. Hunt,
and detained for Hull's answer. The answer was
not given until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon,
when it was handeci over. This reply was a proper
one, that the general was prepared to meet
Brock's force and any consequences from its use.
It contained, in addition, a disclaimer of two acts
in Canada, one an unauthorized flag of truce
which had gone about a month before, while Cass
was at the Canard, without that officer's know-
ledge, and the other the burning of a house when
the battery in Canada was abandoned a few
days before, either destroyed by accident or by
others than the troops. It does not appear that
any explanation had been demanded of these acts,
or that complaint had been made of them recently,
if at all. On the same day, Hull sent out a
message to recall Cass and McArthur. They had
been gone not far from twenty-four hours when
the messenger started, and had been sent on
urgent business. They were reached in the even-
ing of the 15th, and the detachment hurried
back by a night march, and arrived at the River
Rouge the next morning, about the time of the
surrender.
On receiving Hull's message, the Canadian
guns opened upon the town, and the cannonade
was kept up until late in the night, being vigor-
ously responded to from the American batteries, not
Chap. XI.] PREPARATIONS FOR ATTACK. 299
without effect. The summons was understood to
be the prelude to an attack, and on the afternoon
of the 15th, Major (afterwards General) Jessup,
who was Hull's brigade-major, inquired into the
arrangement of the forces, which were all ordered
to be posted in proper positions. Colonel Brush
was to command the Michigan militia, at the up-
per end of the town, which bordered on his farm.
Colonel Findlay's regiment and the Michigan Le-
gion, (a corps of four companies of experienced
soldiers, under Major Witherell, Judge of the Su-
preme Court, and a Revolutionary officer,) were
to form back of the town, where the remainder
of McArthur's and Cass's regiments were also
stationed. These positions not being well-chosen,
were changed before daylight the next morning,
so that Findlay's regiment was moved further
west, where he commanded the approaches to the
town under cover of lines of high picket fences
along the road ; and the other Ohio troops were
subsequently, or about the same time, joined to
his.
The movement of the enemy towards Spring-
wells, and the collecting of boats and moving up
of British vessels, began before darl^ on the 15th.
Captain Snelling had been sent clown to the Sand
Hill, with a few men and a small field-piece, to
watch the crossing and report, and to return be-
fore daylight. It was urged by him, and by Major
Jessup and General Taylor, that one or two
24-pounders could be placed so as to drive off
300 NON-RESISTANCE. [Chap. XI.
the vessels and command the crossing. A proper
place was found on high ground, but Hull re-
fused, on various pretexts, all of which were shown
to be insufficient. Both Jessup and Snelling begged
permission to cross and spike the guns, but vainly.
No movement was made by the enemy to cross
during the night, nor until 7 o'clock in the morn-
ing of the 1 6th. At this time the troops and
guns were all well posted near the town, so as
to command the approaches, and Lieutenant An-
derson had a battery on the bluff directly com-
mandino- the road and ravine where the British
would be obliged to cross the Savoyard on a
narrow bridoe. No resistance was made to their
landing at Springwells, and no attempt was made
to harass them on the road — about three miles
long — which was lined most of the way, on one
or both sides, wdth close pickets and orchards,
which could have been made available to annoy
them. There were also two or three bridges along
the road, the destruction of which would have
made any approach difficult. The British bat-
teries in Canada opened in the morning, and were
answered from the American batteries.
After sonfe time two balls took effect in the
fort, killing Lieutenant Hanks, Lieutenant Sibley,
Dr. Reynolds, and two privates, and wounding Dr.
Blood. Up to this time, the forces outside had
not been allowed to do anything against the ene-
my, who were advancing 750 strong up the River
Road. Upon the fatal result of these balls, which
Chap. XI. J
HULL'S AOrrATlON 301
appeared to bewilder and terrify him, Hull im-
mediately sent over his son and aid (Captain A.
F. Hull) with a flag of truce, to Canada, to Gen-
eral Brock, whom he supposed to be there. At
this time, and through the morning of the i6th,
(although there was some conflict as to the ap-
pearances on the 15th), there was a general agree-
ment among the majority of the witnesses that
Hull showed signs of extreme agitation and fear ;
that his appearance was squalid, and his face stained
and filthy with tobacco juice, and his self-posses-
sion entirely destroyed.
It has been gravely urged that opinions of
eye-witnesses cannot be given to show their im-
pression of a man's state of mind, from the ap-
pearance of his countenance and his actions.
General Hull has laid great stress upon this, and
some others have thoughtlessly followed him, and
arraigned the court martial as unfair for receiv-
ing it. Such an objection is so palpably absurd
to any one who has ever paid attention to testi-
mony, and the means of proof of human emo-
tions and sentiments, that it is surprising it was
ever started. That this testimony produced great
effect was inevitable, as it was ver)' plain and
forcible, and harmonized with the surroundings.
It convinced the court, as it has convinced others,
and as it can hardly fail to convince any one who
does not accept General Hull's theory, which seems
to have been that the witnesses were perjured
conspirators, and the court a forsworn body of
302 SURRENDER. [Chap. XI.
administration satellites, bound to make him a
scapegoat for the transgressions of the President
and War Department.
During this time the British, under Brock,
were advancing up the road, and approaching
within a mile of the fort. Hull ordered Findlay's
regiment to march into the fort, where there was
no room for such a crowd to do anything. Be-
fore they reached it, he hoisted a white flag, and
had sent to General Brock announcing that he
would surrender. And he did surrender, under
the same abject terror and bewilderment, without
the ordinary terms. His troops were not even al-
lowed the honors of war, nor permitted to be
discharged on parole, nor was any arrangement
made for the benefit of the Canadians who had
accepted his protection. He put himself entirely
in the control of Brock, by offering surrender
without any previous parley, and the articles as
drawn and signed by the officers on both sides,
were as nearly as possible the terms of an un-
conditional surrender. He had difficulty in getting
any officers to represent him at all, and only
succeeded upon the representation that it was his
act and not theirs.
A supplementary article allowed the Ohio
troops to go home on parole. A second supple-
ment gave the same privilege to Major Witherell's
Michigan troops. These conditions were no part
of the original stipulation, nor is it explained how
or why they were made. Cass and Mc Arthur
Chap. XI. 1 TERMS OF CAPITULATION. 303
had not come in, and might easily have escaped.
The capitulation would, no doubt, — and Hull so
intimates, — have been gladly accepted without
them, rather than not obtained, and he says he
included them for their own safety. Brock was in
great dread that they would attack him in the rear,
and if the fort had held out an hour or two he
would have been in a very perilous condition.
He states that he hastened his movements to
reach the fort, and attack it, before McArthur
could come up, knowing him to be near. No
proof could be more conclusive that he knew Hull
would capitulate; for the idea of a garrison of
larger force than the assailants being unable
to defend themselves for two or three hours,
never could have entered the head of that
gallant soldier.' He says in his report, somewhat
cautiously: "Certain considerations induced me
to agree to the two supplementary articles."
What these considerations were, he does not ex-
plain. General Hull himself refers to them as
separate private agreements. No doubt it was
for Brock's advantage not to have to furnish ra-
tions to so large a body of men, nor could he
probably have felt very safe in having a force of
unparoled prisoners larger than his own army.
He may also have had some compunctions for
I In a private letter to one of his brothers, General Brock says :
'' I crossed the river, contrary to the opinion of Colonel Proctor, , &c. ;
it is, therefore, no wonder that envy should attribute to good foitune
what, in justice to my own discernment, I must say proceeded from a
cool calculation of the pours and contres:'—Ltfe, p. 267.
304
HULL PAROLED. fCHAr. XL
General Hull, whose condemnation and punish-
ment for such an unconditional surrender could
not have been avoided. The article concerning
the Ohio troops was made very shortly, and on
the same day. Cass and McArthur had sent up
Captain Mansfield to inquire into the terms of
the surrender, with notice that they should not
submit if it was unconditional. That concern-
ing the Michigan troops must have been made
later, as Major Witherell was taken down the
lake as a prisoner, and only submitted to parole
at Kingston. There is something curious about
this, as Brock's report implies that it was made
as early as the 1 7th. General Hull was, on his
arrival at Montreal, offered his discharge on parole,
by Sir George Prevost, without request, and was
allowed to go home. The other officers who had
been captured at Detroit, or while fighting else-
where, were not so easily parted with. General
Brock's reports are destitute of any expressions
of respect towards General Hull, and the contem-
porary reports of the private statements of Gen-
eral Brock, and other British officers, indicate that
they did not regard him favorably. '
The garrison and forces thus basely surrend-
ered were enraged and confounded, as well they
might be. The American force at Detroit, with-
out counting Cass and McArthur's detachments,
exceeded Brock's white army by about 400. Upon
this the testimony is full. It is very well known
I 3 Niles Reg., 44.
Chap. XL] CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS ELSEWHERE. 305
that Indians were never of any use against a gar-
rison in camp; and the forces of Cass and Mc-
Arthur, with the rest, far exceeded Brock's whites
and Indians together. When we remember the
previous sieges of Detroit, under Dubuisson and
Gladwin, and the subsequent events at Fort Meigs
and Fort Stephenson, the course of Hull becomes
so astounding that it excites our amazement to
know what men can be led to do. when their
judgment and courage have utterly deserted them.
On the very day when Detroit was surrendered,
Fort Dearborn — evacuated the day before under
Hull's orders — was burned. At the same time
another Hull was actively engaged in looking after
enemies on the ocean ; and three days thereafter,
m the Constitution, captured the Guerriere from a
gallant enemy, Captain Dacres, who was not long
after exchanged for Colonel Miller, one of the
noblest soldiers of any of our wars.
On the 1 7th of August, Captain Elliott made
his appearance at Brush's camp, near Godfroy's
post on the Raisin, and claimed his surrender
under the capitulation. The oudying troops were
not included in the articles, but Hull undertook
to cover them afterwards. It being'the unanimous
opinion of Colonel Anderson, Captains Rowland
and Brush, and the remaining officers, that they
were not within the surrender, uiey declined lo
accede to the demand. Captain Rowland was in
favor of remaining in camp and keeping up the
■J.0
306 TWO COURTS MARTIAL. fCHAP. XI.
post. In this he was overruled, and the troops
retired. Captain Brush having been tried by
court martial for an alleged violation of duty In
regard to the surrender, the court unanimously
decided that his course in refusing to hold it
binding on his force was correct and laudable.
A court martial was ordered in January, 1813,
to meet on the 25th day of February, 181 3, to try
General Hull. This court was dissolved without
meeting. A second court convened at Albany on
the 3d of January, 181 4, consisting of Major
General Henry Dearborn, President; Brigadier
General Joseph Bloomfield, Colonels Peter Little,
William N. Irvine, J. R. Fenwick, and Robert
Bogardus ; and Lieutenant Colonels James House,
William Scott, William Stewart, Samuel S. Conner,
S. B. Davis, and John W. Livingston. Martin
Van Buren acted as special judge advocate, Philip
S. Parker being army judge advocate.
The trial was had on the charges and specifi-
cations drawn up by Alexander J. Dallas for the
first court, including charges of (i) treason, (2)
cowardice, and (3) neglect of duty. He was ac-
quitted upon the charge of treason, and convicted
upon the other two charges, though acquitted on
some of the particular specifications under charges
2 and 3.
The charges of cowardice on which he was
convicted embraced, first, his retreat from Canada
after his entry and proclamation, and other pro-
fessions of activity ; second, fear shown during the
Chap. XI. 1 FINDINGS OF THE COURT.
307
cannonade and at various times ; third, a series
of delinquencies on the i6th day of August, embrac-
ing cowardly acts and expressions, skulking from
danger, making no attempt to prevent the enemy's
crossing, making no personal reconnoissance on
their approach, and failing to offer battle, and
other acts immediately connected with the sur-
render. These last were hastily sending out flags
of truce tor surrender, keeping away from the
troops in a place of safety, giving fluctuating,
inconsistent, and in some cases incoherent orders,
calling troops from without into the fort where
they were over-crowded, and the precipitate
declaration of surrender before askingr for terms.
Fourth, because in his surrender he did not require
that his men should receive the honors of war ; —
that he did not stipulate for protection to the
Canadians who had joined him, and who would
otherwise be liable for treason ; that he did not
reserve the right to report to the Secretary of
War, but turned everything over to the enemy ;
and that the surrender was not due either to the
superior force or means of the enemy, or to lack
of means in his own army.
The specifications of neglect of duty on which
he was convicted were, first, a neglect to inspect,
train, review and order his men, between their
arrival at Detroit and surrender. The charges ot
previous neglect were not sustained, because there
was no opportunity on the march. Second, his
delays in Canada ; third, allowing his communica-
308
CONDUCT OF THE COURT. I Chap. XI. «
tions to be cut off, and failing to supply and
support Van Home. He was acquitted of any
criminal negligence In falling to supply Colonel
Miller. Fourth, his failure to advance upon Maiden
after Cass had taken the bridge on the Canard
River ; fifth, neglect to prevent the erection of the
Sandwich batteries, or to fortify at Springwells,
in advance of the landing, or to annoy or oppose
the enemy while landing.
It has been intimated that the court made a
wholesale and indiscriminate finding, and that the
verdict was only qualified enough to give an ap-
pearance of deliberation. This is not a fair state-
ment. There was testimony, which, if this had
been a trial by jury, would have authorized them
to consider every one of the charges and speci-
fications from treason downwards. That, in weigh-
ing the testimony, the court regarded the treason
as not proven, does not indicate that the charge
was frivolous. Their conclusion was satisfactory
to candid minds. If it had not been, public opin-
ion would have criticized the remission of the
penalty for the other acts. The editor of Niles'
Register, after the first publication of General
Hull's statements, used this language: "We have
now before us the letters of this unfortunate com-
mander. If we give all faith to everything he
says, we must acquit him of treachery, though w^e
may form opinions of his conduct almost as dis-
honorable to him." ' His letters contained the
I 3 Niles R., 57.
Chap. XI.] CONDUCT OF THE COURT. 309
whole substance of his subsequent defence, con-
tradicting some things sworn to by witnesses
afterwards ; and this was not the verdict of an
enemy. Under the charge of cowardice he was
convicted of every specification but one, which
was that he was guilty of " forbidding the Ameri-
can artillery to fire on the enemy on their march
to Detroit." The evidence on this, though con-
flicting, was that Anderson was reserving his fire
until the enemy got in grape-shot range, near the
crossing of the Savoyard, and the white flag went
up before they got there. The other specific
charges have been mentioned above.
Under the charges of neglect of duty, he was
acquitted of some very serious charges. Among
those not before mentioned, and not found sus-
tained, were neglect in sending up the vessels from
Maumee, when he had reason to believe there
was war, or likelihood of it ; and neglect in put-
ting the post in proper order, and in using dili-
gence to expedite his artillery preparations. That
there was carelessness in regard to the vessels
can hardly be questioned, but it was not criminal
carelessness of such a degree as to require severe
judgment. Upon the other matters, it appears the
fort was not out of repair to any serious extent,
and that he had been reasonably diligent in giving
orders for the artillery preparations.
Upon the other points there was really no
conflict of fact, unless it may be supposed to have
arisen upon the question of his state of mind.
310 HULL'S DEFENCE. [Chap. XI.
He never seriously asserted that he had done the
acts which he was charged with omitting. He
claimed that some of them were not feasible, or
that he had reason to fear either that they could
not be done at all, or could not be done without
incurring risks which he felt bound to avoid.
And he also relied to some extent upon the ground
that, as matters had been left to his discretion, he
was not subject to censure or responsibility for
following it.
If the defence of General Hull against the
verdict of public opinion merely involved himself,
no one would desire to dwell upon the unfortunate
occurrences, beyond such reference as could not
be avoided. That the surrender was unnecessary,
and that Hull could not only have saved Detroit
but taken Maiden, no one can doubt who believes
in any ordinary probabilities. Nor is there any
more doubt that most commanders would have
done both. No one grudges the sparing of his
life, or disputes the propriety of recognizing his
honorable record in the Revolution, as rendering
his pardon proper. And few would care to inquire
whether the loss of his earlier intrepidity was due
to physical infirmity, or a charge beyond his
capacity to manage, or to both. He was manifestly
unfit for his military responsibilities, in the shape
in which they fell upon him, and he did not design
to be treacherous.
But the case which he undertook to make by
his defence did not rest upon any personal dis-
Cmap. XI. J HULL'S DEFENCE 311
ability to do what others might have done. It
was not apologetic, but was rested on the ground
that he had not lost his self-possession, but had
acted deliberately, and done what ought to have
been done by any competent and prudent com-
mander. And it rested on the further claim that
a fair court could not have found against him on
any charge, and that the witnesses and court were
both determined and employed to ruin him, in
order to cover up their own defaults and the sins
of the administration. In this point of view the
inquiry concerns the truth of history, and concerns
also the reputation of men without whose services
Michigan would still have been a Canadian
Province.
Attempts have been made by many historians
to reverse the judgments of past generations, and
rehabilitate those who have been under censure.
Such attempts are usually, — however fairly de-
signed, and, however plausible, — extremely so-
phistical, and disregard the contemporary views of
single as well as combined facts. There is but one
case in which they can be very serviceable. It
sometimes happens that there is newly discovered
evidence, which should be allowed weight. Even
this, however, is not always decisive. After the
lapse of many years, it may easily be conjectured
that something has been overlooked which was
not in fact overlooked, but was not reo-arded as
trustworthy and conclusive. In General Hull's case
we know what testimony convicted him, and we
/
312 JUSTICE Ot" THE VERDICT. [Chap. Xl.
know what testimony he claimed was not produced.
We have not, as the court had, the power of see-
ing the demeanor of the witnesses, or of the
prisoner on the trial, nor that of seeing the various
persons engaged in the drama. But so tar as
personal qualities are concerned, the estimates
and opinions of eye witnesses and acquaintances,
and the substantial agreement of public sentiment,
are generally safer than the conclusions of their
successors possibly can be ; and courts of justice
as well as the court of public opinion so regard
them. The reputation of many of the witnesses,
and of some of the members of the court, is
familiar to all readers of history, and they were
personally known to very many yet surviving in
this region ; and both their honesty and their
judgment are held in esteem.
If the court had full reason to believe, and
did believe, that Hull had failed to do what every
commander of ordinary firmness and capacity
should have done in his position, there was no
escape from this verdict. Every man who, in
civil or military pursuits, undertakes an office
requiring skill and firmness, is liable to all the
consequences arising from his not possessing them;
and is morally as well as legally blameworthy for
the failure. Any fear of consequences, which it
is a wrong in a military commander to be governed
by, is cowardice, whether in its meanest and most
selfish form or not. A man who for any reason
is afraid to do his duty, cannot avoid that imputa-
Chap. XI.] MILITARY RESPONSIBILITY. 313
tion. It Is rightly regarded in military law as
next to treason, because it demoralizes soldiers
and breaks up the power of the government.
The recent case of Bazaine is one where no one
ever suspected that officer of personal poltroonery,
yet where he was justly sentenced to death for
his neglect of duty, in not acting with that courage
and persistency which the case demanded. The
remission was properly left to the pardoning
power, and not assumed by the court. If Hull
was guilty at all, his military offence was very
great, and the terrible consequences which actually
followed were what might have been expected.
The country came back under the control of the
British, and under the ravages of the Indians.
The advantages of Wayne's and Harrison's victories
were all lost for a season, and the eround was
only regained after many bloody battles and cruel
massacres. Hull no doubt deluded himself at the
time, (or more probably afterwards deluded him-
self into thinking he had been led at the time)
into believing these events might be spared. But
he was, nevertheless, responsible for what he
ought to have foreseen, and this blindness was
itself, if he was not entirely right, one of the
blamable results of his self-deception.
The principal charges against others on which
Hull relied for vindication are in the nature of
what might be termed impeaching testimony, as
indicating faults, and attempts to conceal them
bv sinister means. In his oritrinal defence all
314 AFTERTHOUGHTS. [Chap. Xl.
of those were set out which then occurred to
him, or which were deemed appropriate. Nearly
ten years later, when the general knowledge of
facts may be supposed to have lost some of its
sharpness of outline, an elaborate series of me-
moirs was printed, which left out nothing, but in-
troduced some new suggestions and enlarged and
dwelt more fully upon some old ones. The first
great complaint was against the administration
for getting him into trouble in the tirst instance,
and afterwards trying to ruin him to save its own
credit, by avoiding a trial as long as it dared, and
then packing the court.
Some suggestions in the memoir as to the
desire to use these means in furtherance of a
Presidential election, would not have been made
but for slips of memory. Indeed, while it is the
commonest and most natural thing in the world
for a well-meaning man charged with wrong to
try to persuade himself he cannot possibly have
done it, and to multiply reasons to convince him-
self that its very mischief is conclusive that he
did not do it, such self-deception is necessarily
brought about by means which are not satisfactory
to the judgment of others. Hull speaks of him-
self as having been a prisoner during a consider-
able period. This was nominally so, as he was
not exchanged. But there is no other instance
during the war of a prisoner of his rank being
so soon released and paroled, with or without
solicitation ; and except as a personal favor from
Chap. Xl. | HULL'S DISCHARGE ON PAROLE. 315
the enemy, there was no personally creditable
reason for it.' He was at home within a little
more than three weeks after the surrender — beino-
discharged as soon as he reached Montreal. He
was within reach of the press, in a region where
the administration was not popular, and had every
facility for vindicating himself and punishing the
administration before the Presidential election. If
this was not a proper thing for him to do before
trial, it was vigorously done by some one on his
behalf, and the trial was certainly not postponed
for the purpose of getting the case beyond the
election. It would have been gross injustice to
prefer his exchange to that of earlier prisoners,
though he had been bravest of the brave. But
I The real reason is given in a letter from Colonel Baynes to General
Brock, September loth, 1812. Colonel Baynes was Adjutant General ot"
Canada, and an officer of high standing, who was a confidential corres-
pondent of General Brock.
" Sir George has also consented to allow General Hull to return upon
his parole : he is loud in his complaints against the government at
Washington, and the general thinks that his voice, in the general cry,
may be attended with beneficial effects, and has allowed him to return
and enter the lists. General Hull appears to possess less feeling and
sense of shame than any man in his position could be supposed to do.
He seems to be perfectly satisfied with himself, is lavish of censure upon
his government, but appears to think that the most scrupulous cannot attach
the slightest blame to his own immediate conduct at Detroit. The grounds
upon which he rests his defence are not, i fancy, well founded, for he
told us that he had not gunpowder at Detroit for the service of one day.
Sir George has since shown him the return of the large supply found in
the fort ; it did not create a blush, but he made no reply. He professes
great surprise and admiration at the zeal and military preparation that he
has everywhere witnessed ; that it was entirely unlooked for, and that he
has no doubt that his friend, General Dearborn, will share his fate, if he
has the imprudence to follow his example. Hull seems cunning and
unprincipled : how much reliance is to be placed on his professions, time
will show." — P. 289-90.
316 CAUSES FOR DELAY OF TRIAL. [Chap. XL
an exchange could not have been made, and a
trial had, before the election, even if he had been
the first to be cared for. A note from Eustis to
Dearborn, which is especially relied on as indicat-
ing preparations to aid the election, was written
December i8, 1812, long after the election was over.
The fact, however, that a trial was appointed
for February, 18 13, and then prevented and not
renewed for about a year, is a circumstance
which does call for explanation, and he dwells on
it as showing a distrust in the pliabiHty of the
first court, which was made up of very good offi-
cers. This charge is very disingenuous. It is im-
possible that he could have been ignorant of the
reason, and on his trial no such ground was taken
or alluded to. The facts were these : On the
1 8th of January, 181 3, official announcement was
made by the Adjutant General, of the exchange
of Hull, McArthur, Cass, Findlay, Miller, and the
remainder of the Detroit prisoners, with Winfield
Scott and others from other quarters. The court
martial was at once called for February 25th, 181 3.
On the 8th of February, Sir George Prevost
notified our government that he did not recognize
the exchange, for reasons which, if true, were
valid ; and that, if they claimed and asserted it,
and were captured again, he would hold them
guilty of violating their parole.' The difficulty
necessarily stopped the trial, and the matter was
not settled until December, 1813,^ when he was
I 4 Niles R., 44. 2 5 Niles R., 213.
<^HAP- XI.) REASONS FOR DELAY. 317
finally exchanged, and a second court martial was
called at once. The government was not respon-
sible for the delay, and it is very questionable
also, (though of course this would not excuse re-
missness,) whether the delay did not save him
from some peril. There was the same opportun-
ity and temptation to pack the first court as the
second. If the first court had h^ard the testimonv
mtroduced on the trial, and viewed it. as they
might and probably would have done, as the
second court did, such a trial and conviction,
coming just after the massacre of Frenchtown,
would not have been free from the dangerous
pressure of the general horror and indignation
arising from that act, which was the sequel to the
surrender; and mercy would have been very doubt-
ful. The last trial was held when the mischief
had been overcome in a great measure by the
brilliant successes of Perry and Harrison, and the
country restored ; and people were much more
disposed to be lenient.
The idea ot a conspiracy among such officers
as the court and witnesses, the latter of whom
had no losses of reputation to make up, and had
made famous names by their subsequent conduct,
IS too atrocious to discuss. When a prisoner
convicted asks the world to presume that his rep-
utation is to be so sacredly esteemed as to raise
presumptions against the honor of a dozen men,
who have been much better known and tried than
he ever was, and who have acted in his case under
318 HULL'S MEMOIRS [Chap. XI
rules generally supposed well calculated to secure
justice, he goes beyond the bounds of credulity.
McArthur, and Cass, and Miller, and Van Home,
and Jessup, and Whistler, and Snelling — to say
nothing of the rest, — are names that, in Michigan
at least, cannot be easily smirched with suspicions
of cowardice, or conspiracy or perjury.
The memoirs create an impression that Gene-
ral Hull had dwelt so long upon his case as, after
ten years, to have persuaded himself that all of
the reasons which he gives why he ought not to
have expected to succeed, or to do anything more
than he did, were before his mind and deliberately
acted upon, and actually governed him. Some
facts he has certainly forgotten, and assumed as
very different from what they appeared in other
testimony than his, which is at least as reliable.
In regard to the numbers of Brock's troops, he
resorts to a method of dealing with Colonel Snel-
ling's testimony which is so absolutely ridiculous
as to excite surprise. Snelling estimated the force
of Brock at 750 regulars and militia, which is
within fifteen or twenty of the official returns.
On the trial. General Hull (although not admitting
its accuracy) did not question the effect of this
testimony, if believed, but claimed that, whatever
the numbers were, it was not the force present
merely, but the one which might be expected to
come after it, which he had reason to fear, and
which made a surrender proper in view of future
dangers. In his memoirs, he gravely insists that
Chap. XL] UNRELIABLE ASSERTIONS. 319
Snelling's language indicated that 750 was only, a
third of the whole force, and that the other two-
thirds were regulars and uniformed troops, instead
of showing that one-third of the entire force of
750 was ordinary militia, and two-thirds uniformed
regulars and militia. It appears from the official
reports that there were 400 militia, in command
of a major and four captains, and 330 regulars,
consisting of 30 Royal artillery, 250 of the 41st
Regiment, and 50 of the Royal Newfoundland
Regiment. Colonel Snelling counted them by
platoons, and his count was therefore very
accurate, and slightly in excess.
In accounting for his own numbers, Hull is
equally unreliable. He represents in the i6th
number of his memoirs that 1,200 Ohio militia
and 300 regulars were all he ever had regularly
put under his command, and that "a few strao--
gling volunteers, from the novelty of the scene,
curiosity, or a desire to see the country, followed
the army and were included in the return." Out
of those he intimates that several details were
made along the road, and several invalids left be-
hind, and 180 would not cross the river, makino-
with the rest, at least 300, to be deducted from
his army. To this deficiency was added an offi-
cer and 30 men left at the Raisin. The Michio-an
troops were summarily disposed of by represent-
mg them as drawn from a population of not much
more than 4,000, scattered along over 500 miles
of territory, and of no account.
320 MATERIAL OF HULL'S ARMY. [Chap. XT.
The Ohio regiments of mihtia, amounting to
1,200 or more, were all infantry. In addition to
this, there was a cavalry force, to which he makes
no allusion. The whole Ohio troops, at the small-
est calculation, were reckoned as not less than
1,500. At Fort Findlay, on the 26th of June, the
rolls showed there were present 1,960 of regulars
and volunteers. The evidence on the trial showed
that there was no lack of dragoons, to go on
escort duty and special service, and none of these
appear to have been regulars. Two troops of
cavalry were included in the surrender. The as-
sertion that General Brock's return of 2,500 troops
captured w^as a fiction of that officer, is not en-
tirely satisfactory, when that General enumerates
the companies and regiments taken; and their
forces, so far as known, would accord with his
aggregate very closely. But the statements con-
cerning the Michigan troops are equally fallacious.
Although the population was small, it was within
a narrow region, and not scattered all over. The
troops are shown, by clear proofs, to have been
good soldiers. Colonel Anderson, who command-
ed the 2d Regiment on the Raisin, showed by his
letters to Hull of August 4th, that he relied on
his men and expected them to fight, and they
never were disparaged. While insinuations are
thrown out concerning Colonel Elijah Brush's
Regiment at Detroit as disaffected, there is nothing
to indicate they were well founded, beyond Hull's
own assertions. Knaggs, whom he reports as go-
Chap. XL] MICHIGAN TROOPS 321
ing- over to the enemy, was for many years there-
after government interpreter. Judge Witherell's
troops are passed over in silence. The Legion,
originally organized in 1805, under Colonel Brush,
was a thoroughly reliable force. Captain (after-
wards Colonel) Richard Smythe, a very gallant offi-
cer, commanded a company of horse belonging to
it. Hubert La Croix was captain of another
company, and did good service all through the
troubles. Stephen Mack, another good officer, had
a third company. Antoine L^equindre, also cap-
tain in it, received the thanks of the Michigan
State Legislature many years after, in 1845, ^^^'
his gallantry at Monguagon, where his men and
all the Michigan volunteers under Miller were
specially commended.
Justice would not be done to the Michigan troops
by leaving the character of the First Regiment
undefended. This reoriment had been organized
by Colonel Brush, and w^ell drilled, long before
Hull's arrival. Colonel Brush was a ver^• brave
man, and had got this regiment into thorough
effectiveness, as Hull's own course shows, — inas-
much as he posted it on the northeast side of the
town, which was exposed to the Indians. Its officers
were mostly French gentlemen of character and
spirit, proverbially fearless, and in no wa\- inclined
to Great Britain. General Brock's own letters.
and the memoir compiled from them, show that
the disaffection, if any, was the other way, and
that the French Canadians, both in Upper and in
21
322
CANADIAN BACKWARDNESS. ^Chap. XI.
Lower Canada, were very lukewarm in their Brit-
ish sentiments, and not at all disposed to be for-
ward against the United States. Early in July,
General Brock was informed by the Adjutant
General of a considerable gathering of French
Canadians at Lachine, who refused to join the
militia, and were only dispersed by a force from
the 49th Regiment, with artillery. Brock, in his
confidential letters, written while Hull was delay-
ing his movements, expressed great discourage-
ment at the prospect, and showed that neither the
western Canadian militia nor the Canadian Indi-
ans would join the British Army in any strength.
Major Chambers, who was sent to the Thames to
enlist their services, utterly failed. The Detroit
Regiment was made up of excellent material, and
in the interval between the discovery that war
existed, (made by the arrest in Canada of Mr.
Moran and a companion,) until Hull's arrival, had
been on the alert for an attack, and ready for it.
The charges against the administration as en-
tirely responsible for his failure, would not exonerate
him, even if true as made. They amount sub-
stantially to these: That war was declared with-
out providing for commanding the lakes by a
naval force, which Hull had represented to be
absolutely necessary ; and that notice was delayed
so that the British got the earliest news ; that
Mackinaw fell, and the Indians were set loose on
the lower country by reason thereof; that the
Province of Upper Canada was more populous
Chap, XL] EXCUSES AND PRETEXTS. 323
than Michigan, and had a force of 4,000 or 5,000
militia, besides the regulars ; that Dearborn, in
August, made an armistice, whereby Brock and his
army were enabled to turn their whole attention
to Detroit ; that the Indians were all in the
British interest, and he was compelled to surren-
der to avoid the terrible evils to be expected
from all these forces, especially Indian massacres ;
and that the administration found it necessary to
ruin him to save its own credit.
It would seem to people generally to be a
sufficient answer to all this, to say that, whatever
may have been the blame belonging to others,
while it might relieve him from fault for not
doing what it prevented, it could be no excuse
for failing to do what he could. Whether it might
or not have been possible for Brock to have
brought an overwhelming force, large enough to
have annihilated Hull, yet, as matter of fact, there
was no occasion where Hull's force was not su-
perior, and none where his men were not willing
and anxious to try conclusions with the enemy.
No superior flesh and blood hosts prevented his
capture of Maiden, or his resistance to Brock at
Detroit. His early experiences should have re-
strained him from such pretexts. The same rea-
soning which made it his duty to give up betore
the spectre of those imaginary forces, would have
made it utter madness, and a sin against human-
ity, for the patriots of the Revolution to enter
that contest. On such a theory wars should be
disposed of by footing up the census.
324 NECESSITY OF THE WAR. [Chap. XI.
We are not concerned, in this generation, with
covering up any faults of Madison's administra-
tion. It had its share of failures and was often
open to criticism, but the President, who is claimed
to be the chief offender, has not been thought by
the people, whose sober second-thought is usually
just, to have forfeited the right to be respected
for his patriotism and general fairness. The war
of 1 812 was one which no administration could
have resisted without popular contempt ; and those
who attempted to prevent its successful conduct
never got rid of the stigma which attached to
lack of patriotism. To the northwest it was a ne-
cessity, and it has been called, with almost literal
truth, the Second War of Independence.
It was undoubtedly one of General Hull's weak-
nesses, (and a very dangerous one), that he be-
lieved it impossible that his views and sugges-
tions as to the proper way of conducting the ex-
pected war should not be accepted and adhered
to. His own witness, General Peter B. Porter, a
very good officer, who went twice with Hull to
visit the President on the subject of a navy, says
that "at first it was agreed to have one; but
afterwards it was agreed to abandon it, doubtless
as inexpedient;" and he also states that while
General Hull proposed 3,000 men, " the Secretary
replied that there would not be so many ; perhaps
2,000." It certainly would be a remarkable thing
for an administration to allow itself to be gov-
erned by the discretion of a brigadier general
Chap, XI. J SOPHISTICAL PRETEXTS. 325
concerning the conduct of a war, and there is no
proof that it did so. The notion rests on the
assumption of the General that he had a right
to expect it, and that his subsequent renewal of
his programme should have bound the Secretary
to follow it.
The same lack of judgment appears in his
assurance to himself, that the war could not be
declared before the ist of July; — as if even the
pledge of the President could have retarded the
action of Congress. All this, however, is of small
account, for he never, after his arrival at Detroit,
expected a navy. The occurrences on the Niagara
frontier were, however, important for his protection.
But it is not clear why he was not also bound to
keep up his own end of the line, for the help of
the army at Niagara ; and if he had done his
duty, the results there might have been more satis-
factory. Dearborn's armistice would very possibly
have provided for a cessation of hostilities at
Detroit as well as at Niagara, if it had been
supposed Detroit required it. To all appearance,
a check on the movements of the Detroit army,
if commanded as it should have been, would not
have been in the interest of the United States.
But, be this as it may, the act of Dearborn was
disapproved, and neither Hull nor Brock heard of
the armistice till after the surrender.' Brock's
I " While on his voyage across Lake Erie, in the schooner Chippewa,
he was met, on the 23rd of August, by the provincial schooner, Lady
I'revost, ot" 14 guns, the commander of which, after saluting the CJeneral
326 BROCK'S INFERIOR FORCES. [Chap. XI.
movement westward was caused by anxiety, and
not by any relief on the New York side. He
brought no such additional force as would have
interfered with Hull's safety, and he is known to
have brought all the men he could spare. His
memoirs show that the condition of the Niagara
frontier made him very uneasy, and that he dared
not lesson its defences.
The militia force of Upper Canada was dis-
covered at once to furnish no basis for any such
fears as are made to appear so natural in the
retrospect. The possible thousands were not men
under arms, but men liable to be called out.
The numbers actually armed and enrolled were
not great, and, while probably about as good
material as the militia forces of the United States,
could not be any better. Brock's first orders at
Maiden, on the 14th of x^ugust, complained bitterly
of the number of desertions. Hull's force of
regulars was larger than Brock's, and his volunteers
at least two or three times greater than the force
of Canadian militia near Detroit, and some of these
were not novices. McArthur's raid into the
Thames country had completely demolished any
theory that the country away from, the garrisons
was dangerous. The abortive expedition of
Chambers was quite as significant.
with seventeen guns, came on board and gave him the first intelligence of
the armistice which Sir George Prevost had unfortunately concluded with
the American General, Dearborn. Major General Brock could not con-
ceal his deep regret and mortification at the intelligence which he found
would prevent his contemplated attack on Sacketts Harbor." — Brock'' s Life,
p. 274.
Chap. XI.] HULL'S UNFITNESS TO COMMAND. 327
The fact that the news of war arrived at Maiden
several days before Hull's army reached the
Detroit River, gave the commander of that place
an opportunity of taking Detroit by surprise. As
in spite of his larger garrison and Indian allies,
and his auxiliary naval force, he did not venture
on such a measure, the Inference Is plain that he
had not much confidence in his own position ;
and so it appeared to all but Hull himself.
The effect produced on the mind, in reading
the vindication which the memoirs set forth, is
such as to relieve Hull from any suspicion of
disloyalty, and to excite a certain degree of sym-
pathy for him, as one of those failures which
result from being placed in a false position, for
which he was utterly unsuited, and where his
associates knew his unfitness and could not tolerate
it. In a quiet community, where no perilous sur-
roundings disturb the general security, such a
reputable old citizen, of genial disposition and on
good terms w^th himself, would naturally receive
very flattering treatment, and have his faith in
himself considerably magnified. Such exaggerations
and suspicions as are found in his whole conduct
are so general among the class of characters to
which he evidendy belonged, as usually to receive
a great deal of toleration. Few persons are so
popular at home as the kind-hearted social mao--
nates, who sincerely desire to make all around them
happy, and who, from the universal liking and
deference which they receive, become in dme im-
328 ACCOUNTABILITV of commanders. [Chap. XI.
pressed with the idea, more or less clearly defined
to their consciousness, that their judgment is in-
fallible. No persons are slower to discover their
own deficiencies, or to attribute their failures to
the true cause, and few are less able to bear
opposition or slights.
The stern realities of border war will not
justify deference to any foibles which endanger
the country ; and the necessities of justice demand
that every one shall be held to a strict responsi-
bility, when he assumes a place where the safety
of the community depends on his firmness and
wisdom. The weakness which imperils such large
interests, although it may belong to a well mean-
ing and very amiable man, is, nevertheless, a
moral wrong as well as a legal crime. It may
not injure the transgressor in the eyes of those
who have known his merits, and have not suffered
from his faults. But it would be very dangerous
to society if the true character of such derelictions
of duty should be so far glossed over, as to enroll
convicted offenders among the noble army of
martyrs, or to give them approval when it is
magnanimous to pardon them.
The British Army assumed control of the
fort and Territory, and the people came under
the dominion of martial law. Under such a com-
mander as General Brock, it would have been as
tolerable as such a rule can usually be made.
Under Proctor it was not so tolerable.
CHAPTER XII.
BRITISH POSSESSION AND AMERICAN RE-CONQUEST OE
MICHIGAN.
Immediately after the surrender, the paroled
troops returned home, and the prisoners were
taken down the lake. At the request of his as-
sociates, Colonels McArthur and Findlay, and
Lieutenant Colonel Miller, Colonel Cass made a
report to the government of the whole history of
Hull's career as commander. This was assailed
by a portion of the press with great malignity,
and it was even charged to have emanated from
Mr. Rush, as an administration defence. As his-
tory has thoroughly disposed of these calumnies,
and the document has been abundantly verified
and approved, it may be passed without remark.
The sentiments of Ohio and Pennsylvania, con-
cerning their sons engaged in the transactions
about Detroit, were evinced by their votes of
thanks to the volunteer and regular forces and
their officers. Miller, and others of his regiment,
were brevetted for their orood conduct at Moneu-
agon, and on other occasions named, where they
had distinguished themselves. Cass and McAr-
thur continued after their exchange in active ser-
380 MILITARY GOVERNMENT. [Chap. XII.
vice, and were advanced in rank by the popular
and State action, as well as by the United States.
Both earned a solid reputation as soldiers and as
civil officers, and few men have done more for
the advancement of the northwest.
General Brock, before he departed, issued a
proclamation, dated on the day of the surrender,
in which he declared that the Territory of Michi-
o-an had been ceded to the arms of His Britan-
nic Majesty, ''without any otJier condition than the
protection of private property T He therefore de-
clares that, "wishing to give an early proof of
the moderation and justice of the government,"
he announces that the laws in force shall con-
tinue until the King's pleasure shall be known,
so long as the peace and safety of the Territory
will admit ; and that all the inhabitants shall be
fully protected in their religion. He required all
public property, and all arms, public or private, to
be delivered up.'
The reference to the alleged sole condition is
remarkable. The copy of the capitulation, ap-
pended to Hull's trial, contains the following ar-
ticle : "Article 3d. Private property, and private
persons of every description, will be respected."
From the charges and specifications against him,
this must have been assumed as correct. There
are several verbal differences between this copy
and the one published in Niles' Register, which
appears to be more correct in names and various
1 3 Niles, 25.
Chap. XII.] PROCTOR. 331
Other minutiae, as well as in grammar, but which
does not contain this article at all. It appeared
on the trial that Brock erased some words from
the articles as drafted, but it did not clearly ap-
pear what they were. Brock's proclamation recog-
nizes private property (except arms, which were
not excepted in the article as contained in the
appendix,) but does not recognize any stipulation
as to persons. This afterwards became material,
and persons were not respected. It is not im-
possible that the copies interchanged may have
differed. If so, it is not possible to tell which
was correct, as both must have been signed.
Brock would hardly have resorted to a misrepre-
sentation of fact. The omission, if made, was one
which was of great importance, and the fate of
several subsequent complaints shows that Proctor
acted as if no such stipulation existed, although
it was asserted and relied on.
Proctor was left in command. While Brock,
and most of the officers under him, appear to have
conducted themselves without creating any strong
personal dislike against them. Proctor has left in
Detroit a reputation for brutality and tyranny
that has seldom been equalled. Wherever our
people came in contact with him, at Detroit,
Frenchtown, Maiden or Ohio, their report was
uniform. As a natural accompaniment to cruelty
of disposition, he, although by no' means wanting
in activity, was regarded as lacking in the higher
attributes of a brave commander. He was prob-
332 SCHEME OF ADMINISTRATION. [Chap. XIl.
ably not an absolute coward, for he was often
exposed to personal danger, but he had no cool
and dogged bravery, and more than once drew
himself away from opposing forces, where it would
have been much more honorable to prolong re-
sistance. His reputation is not much reverenced
in Canada.
On the 2 1 St of August, he issued a proclama-
tion to organize the civil government. He or-
dained that the courts and civil officers should
continue in their functions, and that in the Legis-
lative Board a majority should not be required if
offices v/cre vacant, and that laws need not be
adopted from the American States. The United
States duties and taxes were to be paid to the
military treasurer, for general expenses, and local
revenues to be expended as before, for local pur-
poses. The land officers and Indian department
were superseded. He assumed the office of civil
governor, and Judge Woodward was made
Secretary.
This scheme was a just and proper one, but
it was very imperfectly carried out. The public
records were in part removed, and some of them
disappeared. The worst act of spoliation related
to land titles. The land claims confirmed by the
commissioners, under the various statutes, for the
benefit of occupants, or heirs or grantees of
occupants, holding in 1796, were not finally ratified
by Congress until April 23, 181 2, when it was
enacted that patents should issue for all confirma-
Chap. XII. | SPOLIATIONS 333
tions. These patents reached the Detroit Land
Office just before or during the war, and were
lying there awaiting deHvery at the time of the
surrender. They were all seized or destroyed,
although the other office records and files were
not seriously injured.
From a letter written by Brock to Proctor, it
would seem that seizures of private property had
been made for purposes of extortion. " I under-
stand that salvage has been demanded from in-
dividuals on several accounts ; for property re-
covered or restored, for patents, etc. I lament
that such a course has been adopted, for it was
my intention, and it is now my wish, that our con-
duct in these matters should be governed by the
broadest principles of liberality. You will, there-
fore, be pleased to have returned to the several
Individuals the amount which each may have paid
as salvage on any account." '•' '•'■'• (Life, p. 295.)
The Indians began at once to pillage
property and to do mischief, and some of the
captured officers and men were insulted at Mai-
den. On the day of the surrender, Secretary At-
water's house was robbed of a lar^e amount of
personal property, and many outrages were com-
mitted in the country round. Colonel McKee,
the British Indian agent, interfered in some cases
to prevent such outrages, and no doubt did what
he could. But no effective measures were had,
and the savages made great havoc. Their old
friendship for the French setders in some instances
334 PROCTOR'S ABUSES. fCHXP. XII
protected them from outrage, but before long in-
sidious attempts were made to bring them over
to British allegiance, and the suggestion of Indian
hostility was used to persuade them. Proctor, in
plain violation of the capitulation, resorted to such
efforts so often and so shamelessly as to excite
the plain-spoken indignation of Judge Woodward,
who left the Territory a few months after, to lay
his misconduct, in this and in other matters, be-
fore the government and the public. General
Harrison, after the Battle of the Thames, received
a letter from Proctor asking protection to private
property of inhabitants in Canada, sent under cir-
cumstances so peculiar as to induce him to regard
the bearer as a spy. Nevertheless, he offered him
no indignity, but refused to notice Proctor, and
addressed his reply to General Vincent, his supe-
rior, to whom he gave an indignant account of
that officer's infamous outrages, which V^incent,
whom he respected, made no attempt to excuse
or palliate.
Early in the fall of 1812, Walk-in-the-Water
and Roundhead, two principal chiefs of the Wyan-
dots, wrote a letter to the French people on the
Raisin, addressed to Colonel Navarre, calling upon
them to rise and help their Indian friends, and
threatening, if they failed, to renounce their friend-
ship and subject them to the treatment of ene-
mies.' The letter was short and pithy, but evi-
dently not of Indian originating, though signed by
I State Papers, i Ind. Aff., 371.
CHAr. XII. J UPRISING IN THE WEST. 335
those chiefs, who would have been much more likely
to visit the Raisin themselves, if they desired to
confer with their old acquaintances. The letter
was at once sent up to Judge Woodward, and
was one of the ilhistrations which he afterwards
gave of the dishonorable methods which Proctor
resorted to, in order to intimidate the settlers.
The threat was not an idle one, and the conse-
quences of it were the occasion for Winchester's
expedition of a few weeks later.
The immediate result oi Hull's surrender was
a general uprising all over the west. Kentucky
and Ohio were especially active, and General Har-
rison was by common consent put at the head of
all the forces, receiving a special commission from
Kentucky. These troops were volunteers, not
called out originally by the United States, but
brought into the field by the enthusiasm of the
occasion. Harrison was also commissioned for
the same purpose by the United States. The
Indians were very soon scattered from the Wa-
bash, and driven northward. A campaign was
planned tor the recovery of Michigan and the
capture of Maiden, which was delayed by some
untoward events, and for a time prevented by
General Winchester, who, without orders, under-
took to advance to the Raisin, and there met with
a terrible catastrophe.
The American prisoners from Detroit were
sent over from Quebec for exchange, in October.
At that time, it is stated, that five of the eight
336 TROPHIES. BROCK'S DEATH. [Chap. XII.
brass cannon captured at the surrender were lying
at the chateau. Among the brass pieces in the
fort were two captured by Stark at Bennington,
and one taken from Burgoyne at Saratoga, as
well as some surrendered at Yorktown. The
British officers are said to have been greatly
pleased at regaining possession of Burgoyne's
trophy, which was a little three-pounder, used for
salutes. It was afterwards recaptured by Harri-
son at the Battle of the Thames, with two others
from Yorktown, and is now at Frankfort, Kentucky,
bearing inscriptions indicating its history and ad-
ventures.
General Brock was created a Knight of the
Bath, for his capture of Detroit. His career was
not prolonged. He was killed on the i 2th of Oc-
tober, at the Battle of Oueenstown, and the
American Army, as well as the British, paid him
military honors at his funeral.
On the 8th day of October, 1812, the Detroit,
(formerly the American brig Adams,) an armed
vessel of 18 guns, and the Caledonia, a smaller
armed vessel, arrived at Fort Erie, opposite Buf-
falo, with a number of prisoners, and with large
supplies of stores and munitions. The Caledonia
had a cargo of furs, estimated at from ^150,000
to ^200,000. A portion of General Hull's family
had come part of the way down the lake in the
Detroit, and his and their baggage was on board.
Lieutenant (afterwards Commodore) Jesse D.
Elliott, with a force of volunteers from the army
Chap. XII.] VESSELS CAPTURED. KENTUCKY VOLUNTEERS. 337
and the citizens of Buffalo, boarded and captured
them that night. The Caledonia was run across
to Black Rock and beached. The Detroit grounded
on Squaw Island, and after a series of sharp
encounters, she was finally burned.
In the winter of 1812-13, the cold weather
set in with severity, and it was at one time con-
templated to take advantage of it, by crossing on
the ice, to attack Maiden. But the mistakes and
lack of judgment of some of Harrison's sub-
ordinates prevented any early action, and it
was finally checked by the course of General
Winchester.
The latter had under his command a fine
body, chiefly of Kentucky troops, made up of the
foremost young men in the State, of great intel-
ligence and undaunted bravery. They had gone
into the service with the generous desire to wipe
out the disgrace of Hull's surrender, and put an
end to the frightful barbarities of the Indians, who
had been encouraged by it to renew their old
atrocities. It would be almost invidious to mention
single names, where the whole muster-roll was a
list of heroes. When the new Capitol of the State
shall furnish a proper place for preserving and
perpetuating in public reverence the names of
our benefactors, we shall fail in our diitv if the
soldiers of Frenchtown, and the gallant men who
avenged them, are not made familiar as household
words to the whole people of Michigan.
22
388 FIRST BATTLE OF THE RAISIN. [Chap. XII.
News arrived at the Maumee that the inhabi-
tants along the River Raisin were suffering se-
verely from the depredations of the Indians, and
that preparations were making to destroy the set-
tlement in a few days. The impulses of human-
ity stirred up the whole army in their behalf, and
on the 17th of January, 181 3, General Winchester
ordered Colonel William Lewis to proceed to the
Raisin and protect the inhabitants. He reached
the river, at the present city of Monroe, at three
o'clock in the afternoon of the i8th, with a force
of between 600 and 700. They found a body of
the enemy, composed of British and Indians,
posted in the village on the left bank of the
stream, who opened fire on the Americans with a
howitzer, as they approached the river ; but no
one was hurt by it. The line of battle was at
once formed, Lieutenant Colonel Allen command-
ing the right wing, Major Graves the left, and
Major Madison the centre. The whole army
crossed at once on the ice, and Graves and Madi-
son, in spite of the obstructions of the heavy
pickets and fences, soon drove the enemy from
the village. A considerable force, with the how-
itzer, encountered Colonel Allen on the right,
where the battle was very hot ; but by degrees
the British and Indians were driven back, fighting
obstinately, until at nightfall they had been fol-
lowed about two miles into the heavy timber,
where the darkness put an end to the conflict,
and Lewis occupied the village. The number of
Chap. XII. J GENERAL WINCHESTER. 839
casualties on the American side was i 2 killed and
55 wounded. The loss of the enemy was not
published, and, so far as the Indians were con-
cerned, was not known, as they dragged away
their dead. The battle was an obstinate one.
News of this battle was sent to Winchester,
who at once started in person, with about 250
men, and reached the Raisin on the 20th, where
his force, combined with Lewis's, made over 900
men fit for duty. They were all in good spirits,
and ready to meet any emergency. It was largely
owing to the fault of General Winchester that
they suffered any defeat. His personal gallantry
and patriotism led every one to look upon his
mistakes with leniency, and few officers have been
more generously dealt with.
General Winchester, like Hull, was an old Rev-
olutionary officer. He never held rank beyond
that of a subaltern, but his personal conduct had
been brave and devoted, and his large means
were unselfishly used for patriotic purposes. After
the Revolution, he settled in Tennessee, where
he remained in voluntary retirement, declining
public office. Wlien the troops were enlisted
in that part of the country, he was appointed
brigadier general, and at one time, by some
strange mistake, he was supposed to have super-
seded Harrison. He had no faculty for man-
aging an army, and the troops, when he was
in command in Ohio, became mutinous, and
were only pacified by the vigorous efforts of
340
LACK OF VIGILANCE. rCHAP. XII.
Scott and Harrison, in whom they placed, as well
they might, implicit confidence. Winchester's only
strength was in his sincere courage and devotion ;
and for these he was well esteemed. He was
not severely censured for his errors, because they
were those of a brave and good, though not wise,
soldier.
The settlement near the mouth of the Raisin,
where Winchester had his camp, was close by the
Indian country, and only eighteen miles from Mai-
den, which at this time was accessible by land,
and by a crossing on heavy ice, which was much
more convenient than any land road. The Wy-
andot villages at Brownstown and Monguagon
were the headquarters of Walk-in-the-Water and
Roundhead, as well as of other noted chiefs, and
nearly all the Indian bands which had been driven
northward were at Maiden or in southern Michi-
gan. The white force that had been met by
Colonel Lewis was from Maiden, and the Indians
were probably those of the neighborhood. Sav-
ages prowled near the camp during the entire
interval between the arrival of Lewis and the last
battle.
Under these circumstances, prudence required
the utmost vigilance. Here Winchester failed.
He had no personal experience of Indian war-
fare, and had no idea of the small effect of a de-
feat in preventing them from making preparations
for further mischief. He took no efficient means
for fortifying his encampment ; and while the ori-
Chap. XII.]
BRITISH ATTACK. 341
ginal command ot Lewis were in quarters which
they could have defended, and did defend, the re-
inforcements brought up by Winchester himself
were in an open camp. The General did not
remain in the vicinity of his men, but was quar-
tered in the house of Colonel Navarre, a promi-
nent French citizen, on the other side of the river,
and more than half a mile from the army.
On the 2 1 St, Winchester was informed that
the British and Indians would be down upon him
that night, or in the morning ; but he was induced
to believe the alarm groundless, and, in spite of
warnings, disregarded it. Colonel Wells, who
commanded the regulars, endeavored in vain to
spur him up to diligence. He neglected to call
a council, or to use any means against surprise.
No scouts were kept out, and he omitted, in spite
of urgent representations, to distribute ammuni-
tion, so that many of the troops had a short sup-
ply. Colonel Wells became so uneasy that he left
his own men in command of his subordinate. Ma-
jor McClanahan, and hurried to the Maumee to
obtain reinforcements, but although led on at once,
they came too late to save the day, and turned
back when they learned of the surrender.
Before day-break on the 2 2d the British at-
tacked the camp with a heavy fire of shells and
canister, and made a desperate assault with regu-
lars and Indians. Lewis's force being protected
by heavy picket fences, which were a very good
defence against muskets and light missiles, were
342 SECOND BATTLE OF THE RAISIN. [Cmap. XII.
enabled to hold their own. The regulars outside
were uncovered, and exposed to the full fury of
the assault. Winchester and Lewis, with loo men
out of his force within the enclosures, joined them,
and for a considerable time held the enemy at
bay; but the large body of Indians succeeded in
turning their right flank, and they were compelled
to cross the river, where, though fighting desper-
ately in smaller bodies, they could make no united
defence. The greatest portion of them were
killed and scalped. No quarter was given to the
Americans in this part of the field. Winchester
and Lewis, with a few others, were finally induced
to surrender to Roundhead, who stripped them
and took them to Proctor, who commanded in
person. Colonel Allen was killed. He was a man
of ability and his loss was deeply felt.
The left and centre, under Graves and Madi-
son, maintained their position, and the small ar-
tillery made little impression on them. Their rifle-
men picked off the British gunners whenever
they showed themselves, and Proctor and his white
forces had withdrawn beyond range, so that the
besieeed soldiers had time to eat their breakfast.
At this time Winchester was taken to headquar-
ters, and impressed by the barbarities he had
witnessed and suffered, and by the suggestions of
Proctor that the allies could not be restrained,
and miscalculating the condition of the troops
under Graves and Madison, he consented to a
surrender on condition — as he reported — that the
Chap. XII.] WINCHESTER .SURRENDERS. 343
prisoners should be protected, private property-
secured, and the side-arms of the officers restored
to them at Maiden. Unfortunately, this was not
reduced to writing — probably because not conve-
nient, and no one in that army was then acquainted
with Proctor. A white flag was sent to the camp,
accompanied by Proctor in person, and by Major
Overton, one of Winchester's staft'. Graves and
Madison hesitated about submitting, knowing the
habits of the Indians, and refused to do it with-
out full assurance of safety. Proctor pledged
himself to respect the conditions, and to send sleds
for the wounded to take them to Maiden next
morning, and to have them all safely guarded in
the meantime. On these assurances they surren-
dered. Some of the Indians immediately began
to be insolent, and Proctor, on being appealed to
by Major Madison, intimated it was beyond his
power to restrain them. Madison at once ordered
his men to protect themselves with their guns, and
thereupon the savages were called off and did
them no more mischief The unwounded troops
were at once marched off towards Maiden.
Proctor afterwards reported that the surrender
was unconditional. Upon this he is flatly contra-
dicted by Winchester, and the promise to Madison
to the same effect cannot be gainsaid. Those offi-
cers were men of unsullied honor, and no one
can doubt their correctness. The assurances of
Proctor were heard and verified by many others,
and testified to by Colonel Lewis and twenty-one
344 CONDITIONS BROKEN. [Chap. XII.
Other officers,' immediately after their return in
March, as well as by some who were longer de-
tained, and by civilians at Frenchtown. The reso-
lutions passed by a meeting of returned officers,
held at Erie on the i8th of February, 1813,^ not
only aver distinctly all the conditions, but other
further promises made by Proctor and Elliott for
the safety of the wounded, and how all of them
were disregarded. Private property of officers
and soldiers was allowed to be plundered, and the
officers' side-arms were never restored. Some of
the worst atrocities to individuals were not pub-
licly known until shortly after, though most of the
bloody deeds which have made the River Raisin
terribly famous occurred at once.
The victory was dearly bought. Proctor had
182 killed and wounded among his white forces,
or more than one-third of their whole number.
Of the American troops, not more than 30 or 40
escaped, 537 prisoners were accounted for as first
estimated, and this number was increased by 40
or 50 afterwards ransomed from the Indians. The
number of killed and missing was 397, a large
number of w^hom were not slain in action but
murdered afterwards, and a few^ subsequently came
in and were ransomed. The loss of the Indians
is not known, but it must have been very large.
The men fought desperately, and were only over-
come by numbers.
J 4 Niles R., 83. -' 4 Niles R., 13.
Chap. XII.l MASSACRE OF PRISONERS. 345
Proctor started at once for Maiden. When it
was discovered that he was leaving no guard be-
hind to protect the woiinded, of whom there were
very many, he was remonstrated with, and some
of those who were able to travel desired to ac-
company the forces, but they were persuaded that
they would be safe, and that the next morning
they should all be taken safely to Maiden on sleds.
The Indians retired to Stony Creek, a few miles
off, and it was represented that the interpreters
who were left behind had full control over the
savages. Personal pledges were given to some
of the officers, and one, Captain Hart, (a very
highly esteemed officer, and brother-in-law of Henry
Clay,) who had met an old acquaintance and friend
in Captain Elliott, who had been entertained in his
own house, received from him positive assurances
of safety and care.
These pledges were not fulfilled, but it is not
certain that Elliott was responsible. The kind-
hearted inhabitants had tenderly cared for the
wounded in their own homes. The next morning
about 200 drunken savages, who had been indulged
by their white leaders with the means of a de-
bauch at Stony Creek, came into the devoted vil-
lage, and in council determined to kill and scalp
all the wounded who could not travel. After
plundering the village, they broke in among the
wounded, and stripped and tomahawked them.
More than 60 were burned up in the houses
where they were confined, those who tried to es-
34 6 MASSACRE OF PRISONERS. [Chap. XII.
cape from the fire being driven back and slain.
The streets were strewn with the mangled bodies.
Those who could walk we're started off for Mai-
den, and a few were, for large sums, allowed to
ride. Most of these were killed on the road, and
the number taken to Maiden was very small.
Captain Hart, Captain Virgin McCracken of
Colonel Allen's regiment, Winchester's secretary
Captain Woolfolk, and Ensign Wells, were slaugh-
tered on the road. The bodies of Woolfolk and
Hart were privately rescued, and concealed for
burial, by some French citizens. Many prisoners
were carried to the Indian villages on the Huron
and Rouge, and to Detroit. Many were murdered
and some were ransomed. Major Graves was
seen on the Rouge a few days after the massacre,
but his subsequent fate was never known. He
was beyond doubt put to death. No imagination
can exaggerate the dreadful scenes of those hor-
rid crimes. The brutal tyrant who controlled this
region would not even interfere to allow the bu-
rial of the dead ; and the bodies of the murdered
soldiers were left to be devoured by unclean
beasts. The French inhabitants, whose testimony
was given on oath concerning these transactions,
described the efforts which were made to save
some of the bodies from this pollution, and the
details of the ravages of the dogs and swine are
too dreadful for description.
Dr. McKeehan, who was sent up with a l^ag
of truce to help attend the wounded at Maiden,
Chap. XII.l PROCTOR'S MISCONDUCT. 347
was treated shamefully by Proctor. After being
charged with coming for improper purposes, and
resenting it, as he had* reason, he was for a time
employed as aid to the other surgeons ; but on
the 2d of March he was arrested, under pretext
of carrying on a private correspondence, and in
a few days sent down, with Israel Ruland of De-
troit, to Montreal, being treated ignominiously on
the way, and on his arrival there shut up in a
filthy subterranean dungeon for more than a
month. No charges were ever made or alleged
against him, and no explanation was ever given or
guessed at, unless that he had not taken in silence
the insulting abuse of Proctor. That officer was now
promoted to be a brigadier general for his vic-
tory at the Raisin, where, according to the gene-
ral orders announcing his promotion, his gallantry
" was most nobly displayed, in his humane and
unwearied exertions, which succeeded in rescuing
the vanquished from the revenge of the Indian
warriors." Surely this was penned without knowl-
edge of the cruel sarcasm which was conveyed
in it. Whatever grounds for complaint existed
against others, no one was found anywhere who
competed with ^ Proctor in barbarity. In this he
had neither peer nor rival.
The massacre of the Raisin seemed to arouse
and quicken all his malignant passions. The
Indians who had carried off many prisoners to
their own villages, began to bring them in for
ransom. Ensign Baker, of the 2nd U. S. Infantry
348 FATE OF PRISONERS. [Chap. XII.
was captured on the field of battle, with about 20
others, and on that same day taken a few miles
from the Raisin, where they were left through the
next day, while most of the Indians returned to
the village for the massacre. Their captors on
returning, brought thirty prisoners, and a number
of fresh scalps. These prisoners informed Baker
of what had occurred, and their story agreed with
what has been obtained from many other sources ;
for the testimony is uniform. Four prisoners were
wantonly slain just after they were brought in.
Mr. Baker was employed at Maiden by General
Winchester in prosecuting inquiries concerning
the outrages, and his report, though not complete,
contains some details and testimony of impor-
tance. On the 25th of February, the testimony
showed, there were at least 30 or 40 still alive
and in captivity in the woods. He traced Major
Graves as on the River Rouge, on the 25th or
26th of January, but heard no more of him.
Robert Abbott, (afterwards Auditor General of
Michigan,) stated that on or about the 28th of
lanuarv an Indian woman came to his dwellinor on
the Rouge, and told him an American prisoner
was that morning killed in the Indian camp,
because he had expressed hatred for the Indians.
But whether this was Major Graves or not no one
knows. At the date of Baker's statement, the
mutilated fragments of the dead still remained
scattered over the ground, and the British officers
said the Indians would not suffer them to be
Chap. XII.] PRISONERS RANSOMED. 349
buried. But there can be no question of the
power of Proctor to have secured it if he chose.
Baker was taken to Detroit on the 29th of
January, and on that day was purchased from the
Indians. The next day he was sent down to
Maiden, and on the 15th of February was for-
warded to Fort Niagara bv General Proctor. He
gives some interesting statements concerning the
treatment and ransom of prisoners, and mentions
the names of several persons in Detroit, and in
Canada, who had earned their gratitude. Thirty-
three prisoners besides himself were ransomed at
Detroit seven by Colonel I^lliott of Maiden, and
one by Colonel Francis Baby, (the gentleman
whose house was Hull's headquarters when in
Canada). He speaks with grateful warmth of
Major Muir, the commander at Detroit ; Colonels
Baby and Elliott, and Captains Aikins. Curtish
and Barrow, among^ the British officers, as also ot
Reverend Richard Pollard, the Church of England
clergyman at Sandwich, whose memory is still
held in respect at Detroit, and commemorated by
a memorial window in vSt. Paul's Church. The
friends whom he found among the Americans at
Detroit were numerous. Foremost among them
all he dwells upon Judge Woodward, and his
well-deserved eulogy should not be forgotten :
"The exertions of these worthy people were di-
rected, and point given to them, by our ever to
be venerated countryman, Attgushcs B. IW^odward,
who with unwearied zeal exerted himself in our
350 WOODWARD. BENEVOLENT CITIZENS. [Chap. XII.
behalf at Detroit: he was the Hfe and soul of
the remaining Americans, the man to whom they
all looked up for success in the hour of difficulty;
for advice on every occasion. This, added to
the intiuence he at first had with some of the
British officers, enabled him to do wonders for
us. This gentleman, whose exalted understanding
entitles him to the first consideration for talents,
appears to have no wish separate from the inter-
ests of his country ; though eminently qualified
to enjoy society, he gives up all its sweets to
shield the unfortunate of his country from savage
cruelty and British oppression." A man who
made such a record, at such a time, is one of the
nobles of the earth. If the history of his time
requires his foibles and his oddities to be recorded,
let it also be recorded that before such qualities
as he showed during those scenes of trial, his
weaknesses, though magnified an hundredfold, were
of very small account.
Among the names of those most prominent
in these benevolent efforts, he mentions Colonel
Elijah Brush, Major Henry J. Hunt, Richard
Jones, Judge James May, Major Stephen Mack,
Colonel Gabriel Godfroy, Robert Smart, Doctor
William Brown, Oliver W. Miller, John McDonell,
Peter Audrain, Duncan Reid, and Mr. Macomb.
Of ladies who ransomed Kentuckians, he men-
tions Mesdemoiselles Lasselle, Labadie, Scott,
Hays, and others not specified.
Chap. XII. J BENEFACTORS OF PRISONERS. 351
Of these sterling patriots, Colonel Brush was
a son-in-law of John Askin, and Major Hunt of
Angus Mackintosh, prominent gentlemen of
Canada, but neither ever swerved from his duty.
Judge May was one of the oldest citizens of
Detroit, having lived there since \'j'j'6, and per-
formed many public functions ; Major Mack was
an officer of the Legion ; Mr. Audrain was Clerk,
Register, Judge of Probate, and everything else
which required clerkly skill and strict integrity ;
John McDonell was in after years prominent in
Territorial and State affairs, and an excellent
citizen ; Colonel Godfroy was an Indian trader of
great influence, and the others were business men
of note. Robert Smart and Doctor Brown, lived
to a great old age, bachelors and inseparable
friends, quiet in their ways and full of the milk
of human kindness, and in death they were not
divided. They lie side by side in Elmwood, and
the broad slabs that contain their quaint epitaphs
cover two honest men, well worthy to be held
in remembrance. The rest were not left without
relatives still living among us, and have also an
honorable reputation.
Most of these gentlemen, and one, at least, of
the ladies, incurred Proctor's malignant hatred for
these works of mercy. He at once prohibited an)'
further ransom of prisoners ; the result of w^hich
was that so many as remained among the Indians
forever disappeared, and the manner of their dis-
appearance can easily be divined. If Major
352 WOODWARD COMPLAINS TO PROCTOR. [Chap. XII.
Graves was not the prisoner whose death was
announced to Mr. Abbott, he must have perished
speedily, as he was not seen further, and the
River Rouge was well settled, and constantly
visited.
On the 2nd of February, Judge Woodward,
whose position as Territorial Secretary under
Proctor's own appointment, gave him better means
of knowledge than any one else, and who, as we
have already seen, had been the resort for advice
and help of the people of the whole region, pre-
sented to General Proctor a very plain and direct
letter, which put that officer to some uneasiness.
The following Is the principal substance of it :
" It is well known to you, sir, that the capitu-
lation of the 1 6th of August, 1812, has suffered
many Infractions In every quarter of the Territory,
by the savages In the employ of the British Gov-
ernment. The Inhabitants have borne them with
unexampled patience. They have entertained a
constant apprehension that when the American
forces approach the Territory, and when an en-
gagement has taken place, the fury of the savage
mind at the sight of blood, and In reflecting on
the dead they lose, and perhaps on the retaliatory
treatment of prisoners or of the dead, which their
cruel mode of warfare produced. Is always likely
to drive them to an ignoble revenge on the pris-
oners they find in the country, and the inhabitants
of it who are American citizens. They, therefore,
pressed the subject on your attention previous to
Chap. XII. I VIOLATIONS OF THE CAPITULATION. 35
o
the battle of the 2 2cl January, 1813, and felt satis-
fied with your assurance, that you considered
your own honor pledged for their effectual pro-
tection. Since the result of that battle, facts are
before their faces which they cannot shut their
eyes upon. Some of them are, perhaps, unknown
to yourself. I will enumerate some which I be-
lieve there will be no difficulty in establishing be-
yond the reach of contradiction :
''First. Some of the prisoners, after the cap-
itulation of the 2 2d January, 181 3, have been
tomahawked by the savages.
''Second. Some of the prisoners, after that
capitulation, have been shot by the savages.
" Third. Some of the prisoners, after that
capitulation, have been burnt by the savages."
The 4th, 5th and 6th charges include shooting
and pillaging the inhabitants, and burning their
houses. The Judge urges that General Proctor
enter into some convention with the citizens, to
rectify the evils. General Proctor having, in writ-
ing, through his aid-de-camp, asked for proofs,
they were furnished abundantly, and have been
preserved and published by the United States
Government. But he also sent a verbal message
through Major Muir, which Judge Woodward re-
orarded as dishonorable, and which led him to ask
his passport. In this message Proctor asserted
"that there was no capitulation on the 2 2d Jan-
uary, and that the prisoners surrendered at dis-
28
354 TYRANNICAL MEASURES [Chap. XIT.
cretion." As Judge Woodward had not the means
of proof on this subject, he assumed Proctor would
not falsify it. But in this he did him more than
justice. The part of the message which he re-
sented, was Muir's suggestion that the French
citizens should take the oath of allegiance to the
King. Upon the character of such a suggestion,
to persons remaining under a capitulation pro-
tecting them and their property, he used very
strong language. He immediately departed for
Washington, and not only informed the govern-
ment of what had passed, but at the request of
a committee in Albany, published his correspond-
ence, and some of the testimony, for general in-
formation.
Proctor, relieved from the presence of a man
whom he both respected and feared, gave full
scope to his malice. He ordered all the inhabi-
tants of Frenchtown to Detroit. Israel Ruland
and Doctor William McDowell Scott were arrested
and sent below, where they were long held in
close imprisonment on the pretext of being Brit-
ish subjects adhering to the Americans. Scott
was most harshly treated, as a man of much in-
dependence and influence. He had been in the
Territory since 1800, and had occupied a judicial
position under the Territory of Indiana, and was
Marshal of Michigan. He was an Irishman by
birth, and a very pleasant and cultivated gentle-
man. His descendants are still in Detroit. Mr.
Kinzie of Chicago had been previously subjected
Chap. XII.] BANISHMENT OF CITIZENS. 355
to infamous cruelty on some similar pretext, and
Mrs. Helm, after three months' imprisonment
among the Indians, was shut up another three
months in a British prison to gratify his spite.
But he had determined to get rid of all trouble-
some witnesses still earlier. At the end of Janu-
ary, when he stopped the ransom of prisoners,
he went further, and ordered to be banished from
the Territory all the leading Americans, except
those of French origin and other natives. This
explains why the proposition was made to reach
the native French .inhabitants who had once been
British subjects, and terrify them into swearing
allegiance to Great Britain. On the first day of
February, 1813, a meeting was held by several of
these obnoxious gentlemen, to express their views
on the subject, and the names appended embrace
several of those mentioned by Baker. They ex-
press their indignation at Proctor's cruelty in send-
ing them away and separating them from their
families in Detroit, who would be deprived of
their protection ; declare the act a direct violation
of the capitulation, which promised them protec-
tion ; assert their right and duty not to submit
to such wrongs without compulsion, and their re-
solution to enforce against him by proceedings
in justice all rights which can be maintained ;
acknowledge their duty to maintain obedience so
long as protected by the British flag, without pre-
judice to their American citizenship ; pass a high
encomium on Woodward, and request him to urge
356 NAMES OF THE BANISHED. (Chap. XU.
a revocation of the obnoxious order. His inter-
vention was made in the manner already spoken
of, and he not only failed to do them any good,
but felt compelled to depart himself The names
signed to this document (corrected from personal
information so far as obtained) were, Lewis Bond,
David McClean, William Wilson, John Dicks, Ar-
chibald Lyon, Israel Taylor, Anderson Martin, Wil-
liam M. Scott, David Henderson, William Russell,
Joseph Spencer, James Patterson, George R. Chit-
tenden, William Robertson, John Walker, Conrad
Seek, Elijah Brush, Conrad TenEyck, Peter J.
Desnoyers, Robert Smart, James Bennett, Richard
H. Jones, William Brown, John McDonell, John
Congsett, Duncan Reid, A. Langan, George Batt-
zes (?) James Chittenden.' Of these, Mr. Desnoy-
ers, though French, and bearing a name found in
Canada, was not born in this country, but was a
native of France, and settled in Detroit just after
the Americans took possession. He was a gen-
tleman of great worth, and died a few years since,
universally respected. His son, Peter Desnoyers,
then a lad, and now living, was one of the early
State Treasurers.
Having got rid at home of all troublesome
disturbers of such conscience as he possessed, the
attention of General Proctor was soon called to
matters outside. The news of the massacre of
the River Raisin was received with a general
burst of indignation, and the people of Kentucky,
I 4 Niles, 91.
Chap. XII.] WESTERN MOVEMENTS. 357
who had especially suffered from die murder of
their friends and kinsmen, determined not to leave
them unavenged. Steps were at once taken to
embody large forces of volunteers in Ohio, Ken-
tucky, and all other parts of the west, and the
service was sought with alacrity. It became evi-
dent that the Indians had put themselves where
their condition was desperate, unless they could
secure undisputed possession of their ancient
hunting grounds; and they gave General Proctor
plainly to understand that as they had allied them-
selves with the Bridsh for their own advantage,
as well as to protect Canada, it was time some
aggressive measures were taken to drive out the
Americans. All the available forces of' the sava-
ges were gathered for the work, and the Bridsh
added their share of white troops, and assumed
the task of defeadng the army in Ohio. General
Harrison had been unable to get intelligence early
enough to reach the Raisin, to take part in the
battle, and its result rendered any immediate ad-
vance on Maiden impracdcable. It was, therefore,
resolved to make complete preparation for a fu-
ture attack, with forces equal to the emergency.
A fort was thrown up at the Maumee Rapids,
named Fort Meigs, after the Governor of Ohio.
On the first of May, 1813, Proctor, with a large
force of British and Indians, well supplied with
artillery, began an attack upon the fort, then oc-
cupied by General Harrison. The siege lasted
undl the 5th, when it was raised, and the besieorers
358
feAtTLE OF FORT MEIGS. fCHAf. XII.
returned in some haste towards Maiden. The
garrison had been reinforced by General Green
Clay during the siege, and a part of his army,
under- Colonel Dudley, after carrying out a well-
devised plan for capturing the British batteries
on the left bank of the river, had been led away
by their ardor into advancing against orders too
far, and were mostly killed or captured. On this
occasion the barbarities of Frenchtown were re-
newed, under the eyes and approval of Proctor.
The Indians massacred many prisoners, and com-
pelled others to run the gauntlet. Leslie Combs
of Kentucky, then a boy of i8, yet a captain and
scout of great sagacity and dauntless courage,
was among those subjected to this cruelty, and
his description of the occurrences has been pre-
served and repeated on many occasions, and is
well known. Proctor's conduct on this occasion
was rebuked by Tecumseh, who in person inter-
fered and stopped the atrocities, and tauntingly
bade Proctor to go off and put on petticoats, for
he was unfit to command soldiers.
Soon after this Dickson, a noted trader, had
started from Mackinaw, and gone southward
through the Green Bay country and Wisconsin,
gathering the Indians in force ; and early in the
summer he arrived in Detroit, where Proctor and
Tecumseh brought together a large army to make
a second attempt on Harrison's defences in Ohio.
The hopes of the Indians had been excited by
the promise that Michigan should be set apart
Chap. XII.] FORT STEPHENSON 359
for the Prophet and his followers, and they set
out with sanguine assurance of success. After
various movements to conceal their plans, they ap-
proached Fort Meigs. Tecumseh had conceived
the plan of deceiving the garrison into supposing
an attack had been made by the allies on an
American force outside, — expecting by this means
to draw out the garrison into an ambuscade.
General Clay was on his guard, and although the
noises were very suggestive of a fierce battle,
and his officers were much excited and anxious
to go out to defend their friends, he had been
sufficiently warned to remain firm, and paid no
attention to the mock fight. After lingering more
than a day in the neighborhood, the allied forces
concluded to let the garrison alone, and separated,
a part returning to Maiden and Detroit, and a
part moving toward Fort Stephenson, on the San-
dusky River. Harrison had his army where it was
ready to move eastward or westward, as might
be necessary, as the whole line of settlements near
Lake Erie was threatened, and it was impossible
to be sure where the blows would fall. The coun-
try being a wilderness, and the savages not mov-
ing in the manner of white troops, much vigilance
was required to keep informed of their plans.
The forces left the vicinity of Fort Meigs on the
27th of July. On the 31st Proctor appeared be-
fore Fort Stephenson, with gunboats, and a force
of 490 regulars and 500 of Dickson's Indians,
with about 2,000 Indians under Tecumseh,
360 FORT STEPHENSON BESIEGED. [Chap. Xll.
who wc^re near by in the woods. He was
accompanied, as usual, by Elhott, the In-
dian agent, who was sent to demand a surrender.
The fort was garrisoned by George Croghan, a
young major of 21 years, with a garrison of 167,
and one six-pounder. As usual, the demand for
surrender was accompanied by the representation
that it was made to prevent the effusion of blood,
and that the Indians could not otherwise be re-
strained. Lieutenant Shipp, who was sent out to
meet the flag of truce, knew, as did Croghan also,
what sort of restraint General Proctor put, upon
his Indians, and surrender was not in their minds
any more appropriate than it had seemed to Har-
rison at Fort Meigs, who had expressed his opin-
ion that such propositions, with such suggestions,
were insulting. Shipp informed them that when
the fort was taken, there would be no one left
to massacre ; and he was called in by Croghan,
not before he had been assaulted by an Indian in
the presence of the bearers of the flag, with the
evident design on their part of intimidating him.
The work was not supposed defensible against
artillery, but the little garrison strengthened it
while the assault went on. They had no fears of
the Indians, so long as they remained in their
entrenchments, and they determined to hold out
against the British until they were relieved or de-
stroyed. All night long, and during most of the
next day, a cannonade was kept up against the
little fort, with no effect. The six-pounder was
Chap. XII.] SLAUGHTER (W ASSAILANTS. 361
used by the defenders very sparingly, for lack of
ammunition, but their unerring rifles kept the ene-
my at a respectful distance. At last Proctor,
chagrined and exasperated at the effect of the
obstinate defence on his Indian allies, and afraid
of Harrison's approach, determined to storm the
fort. Croghan, calculating that the assault would
be made against a weak angle of the fort, by first
making a breach and then pushing up along the
ditch, strengthened the exposed point by heaping
up bags of sand and fiour, and placed his six-
pounder where it would rake the approach, load-
ing it with a light charge of powder and a double
charge of leaden slugs. The assault was made
late in the afternoon of the 2d of August. After
about half an hour's conflict at close quarters,
where the rifles of the besieged did considerable
damage to the besiegers, Lieutenant Colonel Short,
of the regulars, followed by his men, leaped into
the ditch and approached the point where they
supposed the defences had been weakened. When
they arrived within about twenty yards the gun
was unmasked, and the first discharge threw them
back in disorder, and the ditch was filled with a
mass of dead bodies, and struggling men, wounded
and confounded at the terrible havoc. Those who
could move at once retreated, and the whole in-
vesting force withdrew. The number of the killed
among the British is not known. About fifty were
left in the ditch. The killed and missing were
stated at 91. The wounded there were no means
362 INDIANS DEMORALIZED. [Chap. XII.
of estimatincT. The Indian loss could not be as-
certained, as diey took off all their killed and
wounded. The garrison lost one killed and seven
wounded — nqne of them severely.
During the night, Proctor departed with all his
company, leaving behind a gun-boat loaded with
clothing and military stores. He left to avoid
Harrison.
This brilliant defence was one of the most
glorious exploits in our annals, and Croghan was
justly honored with universal applause. The dis-
asters of Proctor at Fort Meigs and Fort Stephen-
son shook the confidence of the Indians, and they
began to regard him as a failure. But they were
now in a desperate case. They had gone into
Canada and in many instances taken their families.
They had brought devastation on all the border
country, and were dependent on the British stores
for rescue from starvation. The United States
had abstained as far as possible from using Indian
auxiliaries, and this policy had been the cause of
the defection of Walk-in-the-Water and Round-
head. Immediately after the Battle of Fort Ste-
phenson the head chiel of the Wyandots Tarhee,
(or the Crane,) Black-hoof, who had fought against
Braddock, and Big Snake, chiefs of the Shaw-
anoes, and Tocktowayning or Anderson, chief of
the Delawares, asked leave of Governor Meigs
and General Harrison to take part in the coming-
campaign. They brought 259 warriors.
Chap. XIl.j SHELBY AND THE KENTUCKIANS. 363
During these transactions a forged letter arrived
in Kentucky, purporting to be signed by General
Harrison, to stop recruiting, which was acted upon
as genuine until orders came for speed and
urgency. The source of it was never discovered.
Kentucky had determined to send forward a
large volunteer force, and enlistments went on
with enthusiasm. The venerable Governor Shelby,
sixty-six years of age, but still active and stirring,
announced that he would lead them in person.
His gallantry during the Revolution, at the Battle
of King's Mountain, had rendered him famous,
and just as these events were progressing the
State of North Carolina, through the hands of
Henry Clay, sent him a magnificent sword, in re-
cognition of his services in that battle. Richard
M. Johnson, afterwards Vice President of the
United States, raised a regiment of mounted rifle-
men,— a class of soldiers not then as well known
as they have been since, — which turned out to be
ot great value. Mounted rangers were in great
demand for many branches of service, and they
were held In mortal terror by the Indians, who
were themselves In many Instances very bold
riders, but never in this region did much fighting
on horseback.
The disaffected tribes in Michioran and Indiana
were chiefly the Ottawas, Chlppewas, Mlamis,
Weas and Potawatamles, although some of the
Wyandots had been gained over, and Tecumseh
had more or less of his own tribe with him.
364 OKEMOS. fCHAP. XII.
Dickson's Indians largely represented scattering
tribes of the further west and north, between Lake
Michigan and the Mississippi. Okemos, one of
the principal Chippewa chiefs of Michigan, was
present, with a party of his braves, at some of the
engagements along the Maumee and Sandusky.
While on the Sandusky River, they were startled
one day by the approach of a body of rangers,
and concealed themselves among the limbs of a
large tree, that had recently been felled or blown
over near the trail. The soldiers rode by without
discovering them, but one young brave, after they
had passed, could not resist the temptation of ris-
ing upon the trunk and giving the war-whoop.
The troopers were upon them before they could
escape from their trap, and left them all for dead.
After some time Okemos came to himself, but
his eyes were blinded with clotted blood, and his
limbs so mangled that he could not rise or help
himself. Cautiously imitating the note of an insect,
he was answered, and discovered that his brother
also lived, but as helpless as himself. By painful
efforts they managed to reach a little stream and
wash their eyes and faces clear, and by crawling
and rolling they got down to the Sandusky River,
and into a canoe. They were unable to manage
it, and drifted down, and were discovered and
relieved by friends. By the time they were able
to get about, the Americans had regained control
in Michigan, and Okemos got Colonel Godfroy to
intercede for him with General Cass. He after-
Chap. XII. J COMMODORE PERRY. 365
wards, with the rest of the chiefs, executed a treaty
of fidehty, and never again interfered with the
Chemokoman. He hved to nearly a hundred
years of age, being active and vigorous in body
and mind to the day of his death, although a
wound in his shoulder never healed, and his head
was completely furrowed with sabre-cuts. His
habits were temperate, and among his contempor-
aries of the French, he was always welcome and
respected. The township near Lansing, where he
spent his later years, bears his name. His memory
was very accurate and tenacious.
The people were untiring in their efforts, and
the volunteer army began to assume formidable
proportions. About the time that the British were
compelled to retire to Canada, Commodore Oliver
H. Perry, of Rhode Island, had fitted out his little
fleet at Erie, to try conclusions on the water.
The British naval chief Captain Barclay, was a
brave and experienced officer, and the progress
of the American navy, which they had not been
able to interrupt, does not appear to have given
much uneasiness to the enemy. General Harri-
son had made his plans to cross over into Cana-
da by the aid of Perry's fleet, and the time ap-
proached for aggressive measures. On the 31st
of July, 3,500 mounted volunteers had appeared at
Newport, Kentucky, where Shelby had called for
less than half that number. In due time, when some-
what disciplined, they moved northward. At Ur-
bana the army was organized into eleven regiments,
366 NAVAL MOVEMENTS. [Chap. XII.
five brigades and two divisions. On the 15th and
1 6th of September, the whole of Harrison's army,
except Colonel Johnson's Regiment, was encamped
on Lake Erie, and the prisoners taken by Com-
modore Perry had been landed and put in charge
of a guard. Johnson was to move round the
lake when the embarkation of the rest of the
troops began.
On the 5th of August, Perry floated his ships
over the bar at Erie into deep water, and on the
1 2th moved westward with ten vessels, great and
small, and reached Put-in-Bay on the 15th. Here
he was in communication with Harrison, and their
plans were soon matured. Barclay gathered his
fleet in Maiden, from which place Perry made va-
rious futile efforts to draw him out. Having as-
certained that Proctor's need of provisions would
compel Barclay to communicate with Long Point,
Perry made preparations for an immediate battle,
and on the 9th of September he determined, if
there should be further delay, to proceed to Mai-
den and attack the British fleet. He had received
accurate information of the strength of each of
Barclay's vessels, through Major Henry B. Bre-
voort, of the army. This gentleman, whose family
resided in Detroit, was equally at home on the
land and on the water, and was well known to
all the old citizens of Detroit as one of the most
transparently honest and single-minded of men,
brave, intelligent, and one who when he swore to
another disappointed him not, though it were to
Chap. XII.] BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 367
his own hindrance. He rendered crood service
in the fleet as commander of marines on the Ni-
agara, and the knowledge which he had obtained
enabled Commodore Perry to plan the work of
each of his vessels in advance, so that the o-ene-
ral scheme was arranged the night before the
vessels came out, althouo-h some changes became
necessary when the time of action approached.
At day-break on the loth of September, the
look-out from Gibraltar Island, at the mouth of
Put-in-Bay, discovered the British fleet, and Perry
sailed out to meet it. The vessels enoao-ed on
the Bridsh side were the ships Detroit and Queen
Charlotte, brig Hunter, schooners Lady Prevost
and Chippewa, and sloop Litde Belt, carrying 63
carriage-guns, one pivot-gun, two swivels, and four
howitzers. The American fleet consisted of the
brigs Lawrence, Niagara and Caledonia, schooners
Ariel, Scorpion, Tigress and Porcupine, and sloop
Trippe, carrying 52 guns and two swivels. The
Lawrence and Niagara each had 20 guns, three
of the other vessels having one oun each, and
the others two, three and four. The British had
more long guns, — the Americans more carronades,
but heavier metal. The numerical forces of men
were very nearly equal. Captain Barclay had a
larger proportion of old man-of-war's men.
The engagement began a quarter before noon.
At three o'clock the Bridsh fleet surrendered,
after one of the closest engagements known in
naval history. No endre Bridsh fleet had ever
368 PERRY'S VICTORY. [Chap. XII.
been captured before. The utmost bravery was
shown on both sides. The American loss was 27
killed and 96 wounded ; the British 41 killed and
94 wounded. Most of the loss in the American
tieet was on Perry's flag-ship, the Lawrence, which
lost 22 killed and 61 wounded. The brave vic-
tor was as humane as he was valiant, and the
dead of both fleets were buried together, with the
same honors and the same solemn services, while
the wounded were all tenderly cared for, and the
unfortunate British commander, who was dread-
fully crippled, was treated with the generous
kindness which he deserved.
Perry's subordinate commanders of vessels
were Jesse D. Elliott in the Niagara, Stephen
Champlin in the Scorpion, John H. Pocket in the
Ariel, Daniel Turner in the Caledonia, Thomas C.
Almy in the Somers, George Senat in the Porcu-
pine, Augustus H. M. Conklin in the Tigress, and
Thomas Holdress in the Trippe., Brevoort com-
manded a detachment of soldiers acting as ma-
rines.
Immediately after the enemy struck, Perry
wrote upon his cap, on a scrap of paper, his cele-
brated laconic dispatch : " We have met the ene-
my and they are ours," and sent it to Harrison,
who was on the lake shore west of Sandusky,
about 30 miles from the scene of the battle. The
cannonade was heard as far ofl as Cleveland, and
Tecumseh, from his camp on Bois-blanc Island,
had listened to the sounds, and endeavored to
Chap. XII. j TECUMSEH TAUNTS PROCTOR. 369
determine the result of the battle, while Proctor,
at Maiden, was equally intent to listen. Proctor
concealed the result from his Indian ally until it
was impossible to prevent his knowledge of it.
On the 1 8th, when the British General prepared
to evacuate Maiden, the Indians became greatly
excited and enraged at his cowardice, and he only
pacified them by promising to make a stand at
the Moravian towns on the Thames. Tecumseh
felt very keenly the desperate position into which
he and his followers had been brought by their
confidence in the British, and insisted that Proctor
should at least stay and fight, or leave the arms
and ammunition to the Indians, who would resist
to the last extremity. In contempt for his cow-
ardice, he compared him to a fat cur, sneaking
off with his tail between his legs, after making a
great show of courage. Maiden was evacuated
on the 1 8th, and an officer was left behind to
burn up everything as soon as the American
army made its appearance.
The fleet was now used to bring over the
troops from the main land. It was impossible to
transport the horses, and these were all left in
Ohio with a guard, while the soldiers acted as
infantry. They at first encamped on Middle
Sister Island, anci on the 27th of September
crossed over the narrow space to the Canada shore
about four miles below Maiden. They at once
marched into Maiden and found it deserted b)' all
24
370
DETROI']' REGAINED. IChap. XII.
its defenders. Harrison at once prepared to set
out after Proctor, but without any expectation of
overtakintr him until he should reach the Thames,
where he had told Tecumseh he meant to make
a stand. It was necessary to obtain a few horses,
and on the 27th, Harrison wrote to Governor
Meigs that " a miserable French pony, upon which
the venerable and patriotic Cxovernor of Kentucky
was mounted, is the only one in the army." On
the eve of landing, Harrison issued a brief but
spirited order, closing with this significant pass-
age: " Kentuckians — remember the River Rais-
in ; but remember it only while the victory is sus-
pended. The revenge of a soldier cannot be
gratified upon a fallen enemy." The sons of that
noble State that in this war had sent out more
than 17,000 volunteers, had come at last to their
opportunity, and they did not abuse it.
Proctor was at Sandwich when Harrison landed,
and he at once moved eastward with the Detroit
garrison and all his auxiliaries. On the 28th, the
American Army reached Sandwich, and General
Duncan McArthur crossed over and took posses-
sion of the fort, which he had left before under
such different circumstances. The overjoyed in-
habitants were released from what had become a
reign of terror. The fort had been fired, but the
flames were extinguished, and General McArthur
drove off a horde of hostile Indians, who were
prowling round the neighborhood. The fleet
arrived the same day. On the 29th, General
Harrison issued his proclamation, restoring the
Chap. XII. | BATTLE OF THE THAMES. 371
civil authority ks it had been before the surrender,
and entrusting its administration to the old in-
cumbents when present, and to their next pre-
decessors, if absent. Colonel Johnson's Riflemen
came up on the 30th, and crossed into Canada
the day after.
The American flag is said to have been raised
by the inhabitants before McArthur's entrance.
But it never floated again from the old flag-staff.
That was left bare and uncared for as a memorial
and warning, until a few years afterwards, in June,
1820, it was blown over by a severe wind and
ceased to be visible over the walls. What igno-
minious uses its ruins may have served it is not
recorded. It was not in demand for relics.
McArthur's command was left to hold Detroit.
Cass's briorade was left' at Sandwich, and Harrison,
with a force of about 3,500, on the 2nd of Oc-
tober, pushed on by land after Proctor, — the
smaller vessels of the fleet sailing up the Thames.
Proctor was at last overtaken at the Moravian
towns, and compelled to give battle on the 5th.
The mounted riflemen dashed through the British
line and turned it, and in less than ten minutes
the whole force was captured, except General
Proctor and 17 officers and 239 men. The official
reports ot his own government show that he was
regarded as having been guilty oi grossly dis-
graceful conduct.' His brave ally, Tecumseh, met
' Sir George Prevost, in his general orders, uses this severe lanp,uage :
" On this disgraceful day, upwards of 600 officers and soldiers were taken
372 TECUMSEH KILLED. |Chap. XIL
a soldier's death by die hands of a very brave
enemy, having been shot by Colonel Richard M.
Johnson, while the latter was wounded and held
down by his own horse, which had fallen on him,
and Tecumseh w^as approaching to kill him. James
Knaggs, who aided in carrying Colonel Johnson
off the field, was intimately acquainted with Te-
cumseh, and recognized him when pointed out by
Colonel Johnson as an Indian whom he had shot
in self-defence. Probably no one in the army had
as good a knowledge of Tecumseh as Captain
Knaggs, who had been for years an interpreter,
and familiar with all the chiefs. The identity of
the slayer and of the slain is as well established
as testimony can establish anything.
General Cass and Commodore Perry acted as
volunteer aids to General Harrison, and he gave
great credit to both for their efficient help in
making his arrangements and preparations.
On the 7th, which was the anniversary of the
Battle of M<^ing's Mountain, Governor Shelby was
put in command of the army, and Harrison left
for Detroit. On the 14th he appointed General
Cass Provisional Governor of Michigan Terri-
tory.
The Indians beean to desert IVoctor before
the battle. Walk-in-the-Water left him some days
prisoners almost without a struggle, of whom but very lew appeared to
have been rescued by an honorable death from the ignominy of passing
under the American yoke, nor are there many whose wounds plead in
mitigation of this reproach." — Broc/c's Life, 366.
Chap. XII.] FAILURE AT MACKINAW. 373
before, and begged permission after the battle to
follow him up, and thus atone for his own de-
linquency. The tribes were left by the result of
the campaign on the verge of starvation. Harri-
son treated them kindly, and the hostile forces,
consisting chiefly of Potawatamies, Ottawas, Chip-
pewas, several bands of Miamis and Weas, and
some Wyandots, came in and gave hostages, and
were supplied with food. The victories on Lake
Erie and the Thames ended the Indian troubles,
except an occasional outrage from small bands,
not approved by the tribes.
Several expeditions were sent out from time
to time into Canada before the war closed.
General McArthur, in 1814, penetrated nearly to
Lake Ontario, and swept back along Lake Erie,
doing much mischief to the enemy. Fort Gratiot
was built in that year by the officer whose name
it bears.
An attempt was also made in 181 4 to retake
Mackinaw, which failed, and Major Holmes, a very
brave officer, from whom the old fort was after-
wards named, was killed. The British were aided
in this instance by whites from the Sault, and by
detachments in force from Green Bay, composed
chiefly of Frenchmen owing allegiance to the
United States, and Menominie Indians, under their
great chief Thomas, (usually called in imitation of
its French sound Tomaw,) who was as remarkable
in his gifts as Tecumseh, but less capable of self-
control.
374 NEGLECT OF BENEFACTORS. [Chap. XII.
The Territory now began anew its career as
an American community. Henceforth, the evil
influences of British jealousy and cupidity ceased
to operate to its ruin. Though for many years
there were occasional encroachments, the region
was no lonoer debatable orround, and the Indians
generally acknowledged the American supremacy.
It is time that the men who rescued Michigan
from its thraldom were remembered with less
perishable memorials than the annals of the War
Department. Even General Cass received his
only public memorial by having a county named
after him, in company with the members of General
Jackson's Cabinet, and not for his civil or military
services. Harrison, and McArthur, and Miller,
and Johnson, and Perry, and all their brave coad-
jutors, have been passed over in silence. The
name of Shelby, first given to the fort at Detroit,
was dropped for that of Wayne, and the gallant
old orovernor has no memorial.
As soon as careful search had discovered and
identified the body of Captain Hart, he was ex-
humed and buried in Detroit with every honor
which could be paid to his lifeless remains. It
can never be too late to perform our duty to the
rest — now passed beyond the reach of earthly
glory, by doing something whereby they may be
worthily commemorated.
A few years ago, on the 4th of July, 1872, the
survivors of the massacre of the Raisin, and of
Chap. XII. J HONORED MEMORIES. 375
the battles that succeeded it, met at Monroe, to
review the scenes of that time of trial ; and the
brave men who had all passed far beyond their
three score and ten were gratified by the homage
of the younger generations, for whose heritage
they and their dead comrades had faced the perils
of savage warfare, and redeemed Michigan for
American liberty. To those for whom they saved
it, the fame of the honored dead of Kentucky and
Ohio should be as dear as that of Washington
and his companions in arms, and the memory of
that heroic struggle should bind these States
together with the warmest love of kindred.
Among the other benefits of the Centennial
celebration, we ought to number the renewal and
perpetuation of all those honorable remembrances ;
and the evidences of our gratitude should be
"gracious and lastinor.
CHAPTER XIII.
ADMINISTRATION Of^ GOVERNOR CASS.
General Cass was made permanent Governor
of Michigan Territory, and William Woodbridge,
of Marietta, Ohio, was appointed Secretary. Mr.
Atwater, who had left Detroit immediately after
the surrender, never came back. The Judges
retained their offices until the change in their
tenure, created in 1823, by the act re-organizing
the Territory.
The war had scattered the people, and the
population had fallen away considerably. It was
not until peace was finally declared that the
country was entirely relieved from the ravages of
the hostile Indians. While most of them had
made peace, and behaved reasonably well, the
Saginaw band of Kishkaukon was very trouble-
some. Murders and outrages were committed in
the immediate neighborhood of Detroit, and within
its corporate limits. The people, when they had
a chance to reach the aggressors, followed them
up vigorously. General Cass acted in these
emergencies with great energy, and went out in
person with the volunteers to chastise the marau-
Chap. XIII.l PEACE WITH INDIANS.
377
ders. After the failure of the Mackinaw expedi-
tion, no further attempt was made in that quarter
till the treaty of peace. Fort Gratiot, built at
the place once occupied by Fort St. Joseph in the
17th century, was intended, like that, to control
the passage to and from Lake Huron, as the
northern Indians generally travelled in their canoes
through the River St. Clair. .
On the 22nd of July, 181 4, Generals Harrison
and Cass made a treaty at Greenville, between
the United States and the Wyandots, Delawares,
Shawanoes and Senecas on the one side, and the
Miamis, (known as the Miami Eel River and
Weea tribes) and a portion of the Potawatamies,
Ottawas, and Kickapoos, whereby it was agreed
they should all make peace, and enter into
alliance with the United States, acknowledging
their supremacy. On the 8th of September, 181 5,
Harrison, McArthur, and John Graham, made peace
with all of those tribes, as well as with the Chippe-
was, residing in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.
This was not signed by very many of the Chip-
pewa or Ottawa chiefs. Ok'emos signed it as a
chief of the Ottawas.
The treaty of peace with Great Britain did
not put an immediate end to the bad feeling.
This stipulated for the immediate restoration of
all places captured, with all papers, public and
private, and for determining, by commissioners,
the boundary line in those waters where the
position of islands or other difficulties made it
378 BORDER VEXATIONS. [Chap. XIII.
doubtful, and pledged each government to place
the Indians where they were In 1811.
The British officers near Detroit paid no at-
tention to the boundary lines, but pursued desert-
ers into the l-nited States, and on some occasions
undertook to assert jurisdiction over x'\merican
citizens on Grosse lie and in American waters.
An Indian was killed at Grosse He in the act of
attempting to murder an American, and the com-
manding officer at Maiden, Colonel James, directed
an inquest, and offered a reward for the per-
son who killed him. Governor Cass at once
issued a proclamation enjoining the proper asser-
tion and protection of American jurisdiction.
Colonel Butler, commanding at Detroit, had also
occasion to hold a sharp correspondence with
Colonel James, concerning various infractions of
right. In addition to other grievances, it was
understood that Mackinaw was not likely to be
surrendered, and that the Indians (which probably
meant Dickson and the traders) meant to hold it.
Maiden was retained until such arrangements
were made as ensured the delivery of Mackinaw.
On the first of July, 181 5, Maiden was turned
over to the British, and an American force sailed
for Mackinaw, and took possession.
But the distance from headquarters, or some
other cause, rendered some of the British officers
in this 'region extremely insolent, and for a year
or two there were continued aggressions. The
American navy on Lake Erie had been dismantled,
Ckap. XIII.] SEARCH OF LAKE VESSELS. 379
and the naval officers at Maiden, in 1816, under-
took to visit and search American vessels, under
pretext of looking for deserters, thus renewing on
the lakes the outraofes which had led to the war.
General Cass, on being informed of these insults,
wrote a strong letter to the Maiden officials, and
laid the matter before the authorities at Washing-
ton, where no doubt the acts were repudiated, as
they were not repeated, and were probably ex-
cesses of instructions and mere private impertin-
ence. The intrigues with the Indians were kept
up, both about Detroit and in the north, and
American territory was used in that region for
purposes very unfriendly to the United States.
The trading companies paid no heed whatever to
law or international obligations. It was not until
two Indians were hung for murder at Detroit,
instead of being as usual despatched in more
summary fashion, that a full check was put to
their outrages in that neighborhood.
The first necessity of the country was more
people. No lands had been surveyed before the
war, except the old private claims. In 181 2,
among other war legislation, an act was passed
setting aside two millions of acres of land in
Michigan, as bounty lands for soldiers. As soon
as the war was over, and circumstances permitted,
Mr. Tiffin, the Surveyor General, sent agents to
Michigan to select a place for locating these lands.
Their report was such as to induce him to re-
commend the tranfer of bounty locations t() some
380
REPORT ON BOUNTY LANDS. [Chap. XIII.
Other part of the United States. They began on
the boundary line between Ohio and Indiana,
(which was the western Hmit of the lands sur-
rendered to the United States by the Indian
treaty of 1807,) and, following it north for fifty
miles, they described the country as an unbroken
series of tamarack swamps, bogs and sand-barrens,
with not more than one acre in a hundred, and
probably not one in a thousand, fit for cultivation.
Mr. Tiffin communicated this evil report to the
Commissioner of the General Land Office, Josiah
Meigs, and he and the Secretary of War, Mr.
Crawford, secured the repeal of so much of the
law as applied to Michigan. They were stimulated
by a second report of the surveyors, who found
the country worse and worse as they proceeded.
In April, 181 6, the law was changed, and lands
were granted, instead, in Illinois and Missouri.
This postponed settlements, but it saved Mich-
igan from one of the most troublesome sources of
litigation which has ever vexed any country. It
was in that way a benefit. But the report of the
surveyors is one of the unaccountable things of
those days. Surveyors are usually good judges of
land, and not likely to be deceived by the water
standing on the surface of the ground, where the
nature of the vegetation shows the soil cannot be
marshy or sterile. A few instances have been
found in our Territorial and State experiences,
where surveyors made imaginary sketches of large
tracts, and returned them as actual surveys, when
Chap. XIII. J DISHONEST SURVENS. 381
they had never visited the places. That trick was
of later invention. It may be that the surveyors
did not desire to run lines which bordered on the
Potawatamie country, for fear of personal risks,
which were certainly possible. But the country
was not unknown. It had been traversed fre-
quently by traders, and others, and was, not very
long before, frequented by buffaloes in great
numbers. The fact that Michigan contained so
many Indians was proof that its lands were good,
for they seldom congregate except in eligible
regions. Mellish had published, a few years before,
a very accurate general account ot the whole
Lower Peninsula, in which the country is as well
described as it could be in as few words to-day.
Some have supposed the surveyors were bribed
by those who wished to prevent settlements.
Although there were persons interested in that
direction, there is no evidence that they interfered.
It is nevertheless possible that they either bribed —
or more probably adopted the cheaper course of
scaring — the surveying party.
It has already been stated that during Hull's
administration there were no counties laid out;
and the divisions were all into districts. General
Cass, who had much clearer notions about popu-
lar institutions, began early to establish the
ordinary American divisions. Wayne County, as
originally laid out in the Northwest Territory,
was not exactly coincident with Michigan Terri-
tory, even in its diminished proportions. But a
382
LOCAL DIVISIONS. [Chap. XIll.
single county, covering the same geographical
extent with an entire State or Territory, would
be an anomaly, and a county split up into sever-
al supreme judicial districts, would be more
anomalous. Assuming that the surveys would be
made, and the bounty lands located, General Cass,
on the 2 1st of November, 1815, began the county
system, by laying out that part of the Territory in
which the Indian title had been extinguished, into
Wayne County, with its seat of justice at Detroit.^
At the same time he divided the whole Territory
into road-districts, coincident with the several
militia-company districts, w^hich were already de-
fined. No provision had yet been made for
establishing townships, and until the people
became indoctrinated with ideas of self-govern-
ment, which the Ordinance had not assumed as
one of their early prerogatives, there was no
place for these small republics.
In 181 2, Concrress had directed the President
to have the northern boundary of Ohio surveyed,
in accordance with the law authorizing that State
to form its constitution, ''and to cause to be
made a plat or plan of so much of the boundary
line as runs from the southerly extreme of Lake
Michigan to Lake Erie, particularly noting the
place where the said line intersects the margin
of said lake." {Aff of May 20, 18/2.) The war
interrupted this, and it was not surveyed until
some years thereafter. Meanwhile Indiana had
obtained a population large enough to entitle it
Chap. XIII. J INDIANA AND ILLINOIS. 383
to admission into the Union. On the iQlh of
April, 1816, the people of that Territory were
authorized to form a State; and its boundaries,
instead of being left as they were when Michigan
was set off, were fixed on the north by an east
and west line ten miles north of the southern
point of Lake Michigan, thus taking a strip ten
miles wide off from the southern portion of Mich-
igan Territory. As our people had then no
representatives, and there was no public journal
in the Territory, this encroachment necessarily
remained for future settlement. The State was
admitted December ii, 1816. On the i8th of
April, 1 818, Illinois was authorized to form a con-
stitution, and its boundary was continued north-
ward beyond that of Indiana, to latitude 42° 30',
to that extent curtailing the future State of Wis-
consin. Illinois was admitted on the 3d day of
December, 181 8. All of the old Northwest Terri-
tory north of Indiana and Illinois, was from this
time made a part of the Territory of Michigan.
On the 14th of July, 181 7, the County of
Monroe was established. In the previous month
provision had been made for the erection of a
jail at Mackinaw for the use of a future count)'.
The immediate occasion for the organization ot
Monroe County was probably the expected visit
of President James Monroe, who had then started
out on his tour throucrh the Northern States.
He arrived at Detroit about the middle of August,
accompanied by several distinguished officers. On
384 PRESIDENT MONROE FINANCES. [Chap. XIII.
the 14th he reviewed the troops. On that occasion
Governor Cass, on behalf of the State of New
York, presented to General Alexander Macomb,
a magnificent sword, in honor of his conduct at
the Battle of Plattsburgh. Generals Brown and
Wool were present, and probably General McNeil,
as he went north soon after. The Detroit Gazette,
the first regular newspaper of any permanence
established at Detroit, made its appearance at this
period. It was conducted by John P. Sheldon and
Ebenezer Reed, and was an able but very caustic
and personal journal.
The financial affairs of the Territory were not
satisfactory. The currency chiefly in vogue was
Ohio paper, (which was becoming of very poor
credit,) and private bills or shinplasters, which
very soon became much more abundant than the
prosperity of the country required. In parts where
the press had not penetrated, business was carried
on upon the system of barter, or " dicker" as it
was then called, and occasionally specific articles
became practically legal tenders. Among other
things it is related that in one community nests
of wooden bowls became current for small change,
as shingles were subsequently in the pine country.
There were financiers, nevertheless, who understood
their position ; and it is related of one shrewd
gentleman that, being in an adjoining State where
he was personally unknown, and where some of
his shinplasters circulated, he took part in the
abuse lavished on them, and induced some of his
Chap. XIII. j CATHOLEPISTEMIAD. 385
traducers to join with him in manifesting contempt
for such trash, by burning- it; — he setting the
example, by throwing a large parcel into the
tiames.
In the prospect of a future growth in popu-
lation, it was deemed proper to organize the
University, for which provision had been made
several years before. On the 26th day of August,
181 7, just after Monroe and Cass had departed
southward, an act was passed to incorporate the
Catholepistemiad or University of Michigania.
This institution, which was identical in law with
the present University, contained thirteen didaxiae
or professorships, which were sufficiently compre-
hensive. These were to embrace (i) catJiole-
pistemia, or universal science, the incumbent of this
chair being President; (2) anthropoglossica or
language, embracing all sciences relating thereto ;
(3) mathematics ; (4) physiognostica, or natural
history ; (5) physiosophica, or natural philosophy ;
(6) astronomy ; (7) chemistry ; (8) iatrica or
medical sciences ; (9 ) oecononiia, or economical
sciences; (10) ethics; (11) polemitactica, or military
sciences; (12) diegetica or historical sciences ; (13)
ejinoeica or intellectual sciences, embracing all the
episteninm or sciences relative to the minds of
animals, to the human mind, to spiritual existence,
to the Deity, and to religion, — the Didactor or
professor of this being Vice President. The
didactors or professors were to be appointed and
commissioned by the Ciovernor, — each might hold
25
386 CATHOLEPISTEMIAD [Chap. XIII
more than one chair, and their salaries were pay-
able out of the public treasury, the taxes being
increased 15 per cent, for that purpose. The
united faculty formed the corporation, with power
not only to regulate its concerns, but to establish
colleges, academies, schools, libraries, museums,
athenaeums, botanic, gardens, laboratories, and
other useful literary and scientific institutions con-
sonant to the laws of the United States of America
and of Michigan ; and to appoint teachers through-
out the counties, cities, towns, townships, and other
geographical divisions of Michigan. These sub-
ordinate instructors and instructrixes were also to
be paid from the treasury. Four lotteries were
authorized to raise funds. The students' fees were
not to exceed fifteen dollars a quarter for lectures,
ten dollars for classical, and six for ordinary in-
struction ; and the expense for poor students was
to come from the treasury. On the same day
the salaries of the professors were fixed at twelve
dollars and a half, instructors twenty-five dollars,
President twenty-five, and Vice President eighteen
dollars. Appropriations were made at the same
time to pay all of these, and a further sum of one
hundred and eighty dollars, to apply on lots and
building. A gift of two hundred dollars more was
made a few weeks later towards enclosing the
building.
This plan was adopted in view of movements
already begun, and it went at once into opera-
tion. Rev. John Monteith and Rev. Gabriel
Chap. XIII. J DONATIONS. 387
Richard were appointed to the various professor-
ships, and they forthwith estabHshed primary
schools in Detroit, Monroe and Mackinaw, and a
classical academy and college in Detroit.
On the 29th of September, 1817, a treaty was
made at Fort Meigs, between Generals McArthur
and Cass and the Chippewas, Ottawas, Potawat-
amies, Wyandots, Shawanoes, Delawares and
Senecas ; whereby the Chippewas, Ottawas and
Potawatamies, in view of their attachment to that
church, and their desire to have their children
educated, gave to St. Anne's Church, Detroit, and
to the College of Detroit, each an undivided half
of six sections reserved to those nations by Hull's
treaty of 1807, — three of the sections being on the
Macon Reserve on the River Raisin, and the re-
mainder to be selected thereafter. There were
also many private gifts and subscriptions to estab-
lish the Detroit schools and College. One thou-
sand pounds ($2,500) was subscribed in a single
day in aid of the building. Probably the same
liberality prevailed in the other towns. From that
time on Detroit never lacked good schools. The
first University building was of brick, twenty-four
feet by fifty. It was used for school purposes
more than forty years.
The pedantry of this act, which was drawn by
Judge Woodward, and his selection of phrases
which are neither Greek, Latin nor English, led
to much ridicule. But the scheme itself was
approved, and carried out. It is by no means
388 UNIVERSITY. NEW COUNTIES. [Chap. XIII.
likely that he did very much more than put in
this questionable shape a plan already agreed on.
The other members of the Legislative Board were
as well educated as himself, and as zealous in the
interests of education. In many respects it is an
admirable system, but it was found afterwards
that it lacked accuracy and completeness, and was
not by any means perfect. When the Territorial
statutes underwent a general revision in 1 820-1,
this was replaced by a less pretentious act, and
it was never published by the Governor and
Judges except in the newspapers.
In considering the plan of the Catholepistemiacl,
the suspicion naturally arises that in providing for
a chair of catholepistemja, or universal science,
the worthy Chief Justice may perhaps in his
mind's eye have seen a new Bacon in the in-
cumbent, who would vary his judicial pursuits by
devising a newer Organon, and discourse to in-
genuous youth dc omnibus rebus ct quibusdani ab'is.
But Dts aliter visum. The Governor lacked ap-
preciation, and another received the office.
The land surveys had made such progress
that sales were ordered in the fall of 1818. All
the country to which the Indian title had been
ceded, or which contained settlements, was laid
out into counties. Macomb County was established
January 15th, 1818, and Michilimackinac, Brown
and Crawford, on the 26th of October, 1818.
Brown County took in the eastern part of Wis-
consin, with its county seat near the mouth of Fox
Chap. XIII.] COUNTY AFFAIRS. PROSPERITY. 389
River; and Crawford County the western part,
with its county seat at Prairie du Chien.
On the 30th of May, 1818, the duties of man-
aging county affairs were tranferred to county com-
missioners, three of whom were to be appointed
in each county by the Governor.
The Territory was now in a very fair way of
growing. There were very few roads as yet, and
faciHties for land travel did not abound for many
years. But the business of Detroit was flourish-
ing, and the country, in spite of the report of the
surveyors, was believed to be worth seeking. The
lakes were not yet much navigated, and all trav-
ellers by water were obliged to take advantage
of occasional schooners, of small capacity. Never-
theless, the sums received in 181 7 for the carriage
of passengers over Lake Erie to Detroit amounted
to $15,000. This indicates a good business. The
military road had been finished about ten miles
beyond Monroe, and some travel came over that.
In 1 81 8 the exports of fish and cider amounted
to $60,000.
The ponies which abounded in the woods, were
very serviceable for travelling through the country
upon the trails. These tough and sagacious ani-
mals ran at large, and droves of them, branded,
usually, with the name of some owner or reputed
owner, were to be met everywhere near the set-
tlements. When the seasons were dry, they would
come in to the streams for water in large troops,
and sometimes in the night they would gallop
390 WILD HORSES. PACKING. TChap. XIII.
through the streets with a great clatter, but doing
no harm unless where salt barrels were left ex-
posed, when they would break them in to get at
the salt. On a journey they were usually span-
celled with a strap, or fettered, at night, and the
bell which each one wore was freed from the straw
which had bound the clapper through the day.
They rarely strayed far from a camp. They lived
on what they picked up on the road, and were
very free from the diseases which attack animals
more tenderly raised.
In March, 1818, shoes were sent up from Detroit
to Green Bay for the troops, by pack-horses.
That town had been garrisoned in September,
181 7, and the American jurisdiction had never be-
fore been exercised there effectually, unless by
Judge Reaume, whose authority seems to have
belonged to universal jurisprudence. The use of
pack-animals instead of vessels, shows the limited
extent of water carriage. The abundance of
horses, and the small expense of their sustenance,
made this less costly than might be supposed.
The winter carriage in the upper country was for
many years conducted by dogs, and people were
very expert in devising contrivances for their
animals. The pack-saddle was made of light
wood, so padded and shaped as not to gall the
horse's back or shoulders, and everything was dis-
pensed with which could be spared. It is not very
many years since Indian cavalcades of these pack-
horses were not unfrequently met in the forest,
Chap. XIII.] WAYS OF TRAVELLERS. 391
carrying the tent-poles and other movables of the
wigwam, and the utensils of all sorts belonging to
the household, with more or less of the members
of the family perched on the pack-saddle, or
peering out from the loading.
On these journeys, travellers, of whatever rank,
were compelled to take such provisions as were
least burdensome. Hulled corn was one of the
staples, and this, with a modicum of fat meat or
tallow, was the chief reliance of voyageurs and
engages. Maple sugar was largely used with the
corn. Such game, fish, fruit, or other articles as
were found along the road, were welcome additions
to the frugal meal. A common form of condensed
food was called praline, composed of parched corn,
pounded fine and mixed with maple sugar. Corn
was also used by the French and Indians in the
form of a soup or broth called medaininabo. All
wise travellers who could afford it took alone a
generous supply of tea, and after their evening
meal and copious draughts from their tin cups,
they rolled themselves up in their blankets, with
a saddle or log for their pillow, and slept soundly
with no other shelter.
The population had now reached the number
authorized under the Ordinance to form a repre-
sentative orovernment. It having^ been submitted
to a popular vote in the spring of 1818, whether
this step should be taken, it was voted down by
a large majority. It is difficult for us, who have
been educated under a system of self-government
392 POPULAR (GOVERNMENT REJECTED. [Chap. XIII.
to comprehend the feeHngs of those who have
been brought up under a paternal government.
The brief period of representation in the Assem-
bly of the Northwest Territory had not habituated
the French settlers to our notions, and the absence
of any local system in township and county ad-
ministration left them entirely ignorant of its ad-
vantages. Those who reached middle age before
the people in the Territory became entitled to
vote for their own officers, were not always pleased
with the change, and some of them, who survived
to a very recent period, never ceased to sigh for
the good old days, when the commanding officer
was the whole government.
General Cass was in advance of any states-
man of his time in his ideas of popular inter-
ference in the selection of all grades of public
officers. There is much difference of opinion now
concerning the policy of electing by general vote
those officers whose functions are not representa-
tive. He adhered to the doctrine with tenacity,
that the people should have a direct voice in ap-
pointments generally ; and some matters which,
in his subsequent national career, were occasions
of difficulty and opposition, were the direct results
of his consistency in his opinions on this subject.
A man who occupied such offices as he filled at
various times can rarely be dealt with impartially,
until the political excitements and prejudices of
the period have been removed. But it is due to
his memory by all candid men, whether political
Chap. XIII.]
GENERAL CASS. 393
adherents or opponents, to admit that he was not
only a patriotic and energetic officer, but above
all things a sincere and devoted admirer and up-
holder of America and American institutions.
When we look at the circumstances attending the
early existence of the Territory, and the difficul-
ties besetting its progress, the importance and
value of his services as Governor can hardly be
exaggerated.
The difficulties of the Legislative Board might
very well have disposed him to desire a change
in its composition. With too much good humor
and good sense to become involved in any per-
sonal difficulties, the want of harmony between
his judicial associates, and the occasional present-
ation, as an excerpt from the laws of other States,
of such a piece of language run mad as the
charter of the Catholepistemiad, must have been
sorely annoying. That queer production was
acted upon in his absence, though not against his
wishes. He was prompt in aiding to endow the
University ; but the two soldiers who negotiated
the Treaty of Fort Meigs had some respect for
good English, and named their beneficiary the
College of Detroit. It would have tried the skill
of some of the interpreters to turn that mixture
of jargons into the dialects of the woods.
In March, 1818, the people were called upon
to perform another solemn duty. It had been a
matter of much difficulty to identify or bury any
of the victims of Winchester's unfortunate mas-
394 HONORS TO CAPTAIN HART IChap. XIIl.
sacre at the Raisin ; and, after all their efforts,
the authorities were only able to determine the
burial place of Captain Hart. His fate had been
singularly sad, and no one had been more la-
mented. He was not singular in his self-devo-
tion, for in that all his companions were like him.
But his admirable personal qualities, and his
promise of eminence, as well as the peculiar
circumstances of his death, made his name con-
spicuous. Left behind at Frenchtown after the
British went to Maiden, and not being sent for
by a personal friend who had promised to send
for him, and who was under obligations for kind
care during his own sickness, he was finally slain
while on the road to Maiden, by reason of a
dispute between his guides. When it became
practicable to perform the last honors to his mem-
ory, a meeting was called, at which the Governor
presided, and preparations were made for his re-
interment at Detroit, with all due solemnity. A
committee of the principal citizens made the
necessary preparations, and on the 17th of March
his funeral rites were celebrated, with all the
tokens of respect and sorrow which were due to
him, not only for his own sake, but as a repre-
sentative of the noble dead whose lives had been
spent for the people who now mourned him.
The 27th day of August. 181 8, was a day long
remembered in Detroit. On that day the first
steamboat made its appearance on the Strait. The
steamboat Walk-in-the-Water, (whether named
Chap. XIII.] THE FIRST STEAMBOAT.
395
from the Wyandot chief, or for her own qualities,
is uncertain,) arrived on that - day from Buffalo,
with a large load of passengers. She was built
at Black Rock, and when completed was taken
up to Buffalo against the strong current, not by
her own motive power, which had not yet been
tried, but by what Commodore Blake facetiously
called the "horned breeze," several yokes c^
strong oxen towing her up safely/
The Indians had received early intelligence
that a great ship drawn by sturgeons was to
make its appearance in the Detroit River, and
when the steamer glided up the stream without
any visible means of progress, the red men
swarmed along the shore and filled the air with
their noisy shouts of wonder.
Henceforth the way was clear for the west-
ward-bound pioneers. The land was put in mar-
ket that season, and purchases were made of con-
siderable amounts by actual settlers. The weekly
trips of the steamboat brought up full loads of
passengers, on some occasions as many as a hun-
dred. The steamers were then considered large
which to-day would appear too small for even
» General Whiting, in d. jeti d^ esprit entitled "The Age of Steam,"
read at a F'ourth of July steamboat ride, in iS.^o, refers to this:
" And where was e'er the modern wight.
Who, though possessed of second sight.
Twice eight years since could see a boat
Within the shadowy future float?
Or see one lying at Black Rock,
(For Buffalo then had no dock,)
Compelled to lay the Straits below.
T'U 'horn-breeze' or a storm should blow."
396 IMMIGRATION. SYMMES'S HOLE. [Chap. XIII.
roueh river service, and would seem insignificant
beside the smallest lake boats. The Erie canal
was not yet built, and those who embarked at
Buffalo had traversed a long road in wagons or
on foot. Many, too, landed in Ohio, whence very
few passengers then came across the lake to De-
troit. The suddenness and magnitude of the first
general movement towards Michigan was a sur-
prising evidence of the restless energy of the
American people. Very little foreign population
came in those days across the lake. Most of the
settlers were natives of New York or New Eng-
land.
It was during this year that Captain John Cleves
Symmes propounded his theory of a pleasant and
habitable reeion within the earth, accessible from
a large opening near the Arctic Circle, and pro-
posed to organize a party to explore and possess
it. As he was once familiarly known in the North-
west Territory and Detroit, this important incident
should not be overlooked. For some reason
" Symmes's Hole" did not divert emigration from
the better known western country.
The first permanent Protestant church in the
Territory was organized at Detroit in 1818, and
called the " First Protestant Society." Its member-
ship was made up of persons belonging to several
bodies of Christians, and it was not denominational
in its form, so that ministers of various opinions
officiated at different periods. Mr. Monteith was
the first setded pastor. Before that time there
Chap. XIII. J CHURCHES. 1NDIA^ TREATIES. 39 7<
had been occasional services of different churches,
and the Society which finally became incorporated
had been informally organized in 1816. Methodist
clergy had visited Detroit earlier, and perhaps
some others, but no sociedes had been formed.
Episcopal services had been held by lay-reading,
at which Dr. William McDowell Scott generally
officiated as reader; and the Reverend Richard
Pollard of Sandwich, very soon after the American
possession, performed clerical dudes in bapdsms,
marriages, and burials, among the members of the
Episcopal Church, and others who desired his
services. In 1822, the Methodist church became
incorporated. In 1824, St. Paul's Episcopal Church
was organized. Other churches followed, and the
First Protestant Society became a Presbyterian
church, and is sdll exisdng as such.
In September, 18 18, the Wyandots exchanged
their reserves at Brownstown and Monguagon for
one further back on the Huron River, where they
remained several years. In 1819, a treaty was
held at Saginaw, whereby the country from near
Kalamazoo to the head of Thunder Bay River
was ceded to the United States, except a number
of special reservadons, partly for individuals and
partly for bands or villages. In June and July,
1820, sixteen square miles were ceded at the Sault
Ste Marie, as well as the St. Mardn Islands in
Lake Huron, containing gypsum. In 182 1, a
cession was obtained of all the land south ot
Grand River and north of St. Joseph's River, and
398 DELEGATES TO CONGRESS. [Chap. XIII.
Other lands, whereby, except for a small tract south
of the St. Joseph, and particular reserves, there
remained no unceded land in the Lower Peninsula,
except north of Grand River, and north and west
of the head of Thunder Bay River. The necessities
of the people were provided for, as far as would
be required for a long time.
The election of a delegate to Congress was,
by the original ordinance, to follow the legislative
organization, and not to precede it. But inasmuch
as the population was large enough to warrant it,
Congress, in the Spring of 1819, provided that
the citizens of Michigan might elect a delegate, by
a plurality vote of the free white male citizens
over the age of 21, who had resided in the
Territory one year and paid a county or Terri-
torial tax. The first delegate chosen was William
Woodbridge, Secretary of the Territory ; (who
seems to have retained his Territorial office, but
who soon resigned the other ;) and Solomon Sibley
was chosen in his place in 1820. Judge Sibley
held the office until 1823, when he was succeeded
by the Reverend Gabriel Richard, Rector of St.
Anne's Catholic Church. It is not often that a
gentleman of his profession has appeared in
Congress. He was a faithful and diligent repre-
sentative, and performed his duties to the gene-
ral satisfaction. This being the only elective
office of the Territory, and there being no scope
for the ordinary political struggles, there was
generally a good deal of excitement and contro-
Chap. XIII.] EXCITING ELECTIONS 399
versy, which was at first rather personal than po-
Htical. But the candidates were all usually well
qualified, and any of them would have done suffi-
cient credit to his constituents. Father Richard's
antagonist in 1823 was General John R. Williams.
Austin E. Wing, Major John Biddle, Lucius Lyon,
and George W. Jones, were at different periods
incumbents of this office. In 1827, the Secretary
of the Territory, Mr. Woodbridge, and Robert Ab-
bott, Treasurer, in canvassing the Inspectors' re-
turns, undertook to anticipate the prerogatives of
Congress, and to discuss and determine upon the
validity and regularity of the election, and of
votes cast in various places, and gave Mr. Wing
the certificate by the result of this process. The
Legislative Council appointed a committee to in-
vestigate the matter, who animadverted severely
on the excess of jurisdiction, but questioned the
power of the Council to deal adequately with,
officers appointed by the United States. At this
time there was a violent personal — rather than
strictly party — feeling arising, which had been bit-
ter during the election, and which was probably
for a few years extreme in proportion to the
small field open to its operation, and the absence
of well-defined party issues. It was afterwards
in other ways not without serious mischiefs, which
cannot be discussed or understood now as
fully as might, on some accounts, be desirable.
There are still living many persons interested in
the contest, and more or less affected by its pas-
sions and prejudices.
400 BANK. EXPLORING EXPEDITION. |Chap. XIU
In 1819 the Bank of Michigan was organized,
which, during its many years' existence, was a very
important instrument in the financial affairs of
the country. Its organization gave rise to a suit
to determine what power the Territory had to
charter private corporations ; but the courts never
felt any serious difficulty in determining that ter-
ritories have the same need of the instrumentali-
ties of business as States, and have authority to
avail themselves of, and secure to their people,
all the means required to further the wants of
civilization.
In the summer of 181 9 the Walk-in-the-Water
made the first steam voyage to Mackinaw, with a
large load of passengers and freight, making the
round trip from Buffalo and back in twelve days.
Its cargo was reckoned worth ^200,000. At this
time there were no post roads in the Territory —
the first one having been established in 1820, to
Pontiac and Mount Clemens.
In 1820 Governor Cass organized an expedi-
tion to explore the country through the upper
lakes to the head of the Mississippi. This explora-
tion had important results, and was of scientific
as well as political value. The population, al-
though increasing fast in the last two or three
years, had only reached 8,765, and it was thought
desirable to take all practicable measures to ob-
tain and publish a knowledge of the country and
its resources, to invite settlements.
Chap. XIIl.J CASS'S FIRST NORTHERN EXPEDITION. 401
The expedition left Detroit on the 24th of May,
1820. Its members were Governor Cass, Dr.
Alexander Wolcott physician, Captain D. B. Doug-
lass engineer, Lieutenant Aeneas Mackay command-
ing the soldiers, James Duane Doty secretary to
the expedition. Major Robert A. Forsyth Gover-
nor's secretary, Henry R. Schoolcraft geologist
and topographer, Charles C. Trowbridge assistant
topographer, and Alexander R. Chace.
They performed their journey in bark canoes,
of the size and pattern used in the fur trade,
where for more than a century the burden had
been fixed at four tons, and the size a little over
five fathoms and a half in length by one in
breadth. These light craft were proved by expe-
rience to be superior to all others for exploring
purposes. At Mackinaw they divided the com-
pany and the freight among four such canoes, and
took besides a twelve-oared barge with an addi-
tional escort, to the Sault, where the Indians were
reported unfriendly. The British at this time had
fortified Drummond's Island, which was then dis-
puted territory, and had made it the centre of
their dealings with the Indians, in the United
States as well as in Canada. In 181 6, immedi-
ately after the war, Thomas, the great Menominie
chief, went through Mackinaw, on his way to ob-
tain the usual presents from tlie British, and was
somewhat surprised that Major Puthuff, the com-
mandant, did not treat him with hospitality alter
he told his errand. He returned to the island
26
402
CHIEF THOMAS. THE SAULT. [Chap. XIH.
from the Ste. Marie's River very much mortified
by the cold treatment of the British agents, who for
a time, (though a very short one) curtailed or sus-
pended their gifts. The proud spirit of the chief
was so wounded by this that he shut himself up
in his wigwam and drank himself to death. He
was buried at Mackinaw with much respect, as -he
was a very able and high-minded man, who is
said to have had a majestic presence, and a mag-
netic influence over all who met him. The prac-
tice of making presents was soon renewed, and
when Governor Cass's party reached the Sault,
they found themselves among enemies. No
American possession had been maintained since
the war.
The party arrived on the 14th of June, and
found that the village on the American side then
consisted of from 15 to 20 buildings, occupied by
^VG or six French and English families, among
whom was the family of John Johnston, before
mentioned as having aided the English during
the war. On the other side, the Northwest Com-
pany had a factory, and had provided a system of
boat lockao^e in the narrow channel near the Ca-
nadian shore, to accommodate their large business.
The savages were practically under their control.
The American side was occupied by the F'rench
very early, and, as previously mentioned, had been
granted to Repentigny, whose fort was standing
during the Pontiac war, but was long since aban-
doned.
Chap. XIII.] CASS REMOVES BRITISH FLAG. 403
One object of this expedition was to establish
a new fort ; and it was deemed advisable to hold
a council with the Indians, to ascertain and ao-ree
upon the bounds of the old concession. A coun-
cil was held at the Governor's tent on the i6th.
The Indians were surly, and not disposed to re-
member that any concession had ever been made ;
and some of the chiefs intimated that they might
be disposed to allow civil setdements, but that a
military post might be subjected to annoyance and
plunder by their young men. The Governor an-
swered this by an emphatic assurance that a fort
would be placed there in any event, whether they
agreed to it or not. The council, in which a
chief dressed in the uniform of a Bridsh briga-
dier-general was prominent, came to no agree-
ment, and broke up in some disorder. This chief,
called the " Count," during his speech, planted his
war-lance in the ground, with furious gestures,
and kicked away the presents laid before him.
On leaving the council the Indians went to their
own encampment, on an eminence where the old
French fort had stood, 500 or 600 yards off, and
hoisted the Bridsh flag in front of the Count's
wigwam. Governor Cass, on discovering this,
walked over, with no escort but his interpreter,
and took down the flag and carried it away, in-
forming the astounded chief that none but the
American flag must be raised on our territory,
and that if they should again presume to attempt
such a thing the United States would put a strong
404 TREATY AT THE SAULT. [Chap. XIU.
foot on their necks and trample them out. This
boldness struck them dumb for a while, but they
soon sent off their women and children, and made
preparations for an attack. The American force,
numbering 66 well armed, got ready to meet
them. The head chief, Shingobawassin, who had
not been present at the council, interposed and
brought the Indians to their senses, and that same
day at evening a treaty was signed, releasing to
the Americans a tract embracing sixteen square
miles. Neither the Count nor Shingwauk, the
two noisiest opponents, signed it. From this place
they went by the usual coasting voyage along
the south shore of Lake Superior, crossing Ke-
weenaw Point through Portage Lake, and across
the land portage, and visiting the great copper
boulder on the Ontonagon River. They went up
the St. Louis River to a portage near Savannah
River, and down that stream, and through Sandy
Lake, to the Mississippi, ascending that river
through Lake Winnipeg to Upper Red Cedar or
Cassina Lake. On their return they descended
the Mississippi to the Dubuque mines, and then
went up to Green Bay by the Wisconsin and Fox
Rivers, and there separated. A portion of the
company went to Mackinaw, and thence directly
homeward, the remainder proceeding to Chicago,
whence General Cass returned overland to De-
troit, the rest coasting alono^ the eastern shore of
Lake Michigan. The knowledge of the north-
west derived from this careful exploration was of
great value.
Chap. XIII.] STATUTES. 405
It Is a very singular fact that between 1806
and 1820 no provision had been made for pubHsh-
ing the Territorial Laws, and some of them had
been lost and were never found again. In 181 6,
a meagre volume was printed In Detroit, In type
hardly legible, containing the titles of some laws,
and abstracts or Indexes of others, and a very few
In full. This publication was thus condensed for
want of means. In i8!^o, Congress appropriated
twelve hundred and fifty dollars for the publication
of existing laws, and the Legislative Board com-
piled and revised their legislation so as to put It
In a very good form, and supply the place of a
code. Some changes were made at this time, but
none requiring special notice. The compilation
was not perfect, however, and omitted some Im-
portant statutes.
It was not creditable to the Territory that
public whipping was allowed to be Inflicted on
Indians and negroes convicted of various offences,
and, by the order of a single justice, on disorderly
persons, and those convicted of small offences.
The whipping post disgraced the Detroit market
house until 1831, when this relic of barbarism
was forever removed. The not less barbarous
custom of selling the poor to the lowest bidder,
was also long kept up, with the disgusting spec-
tacle of the ball-and-chaln-gang. The legislators
were, perhaps, not behind their time altogether,
but such exhibitions were not Improving.
Duelling, challenging, and posting, were made
punishable in 181 5 for the first time. The law
406 BRITISH SUBSIDIES TO INDIANS. [Chap. Xlll.
was borrowed from New Jersey, which had once
been a great duelHng ground.
In 1822, die United States aboHshed its system
of government trading houses. Its abolition re-
moved many frauds and opportunities of pecula-
tion, and enabled the American fur-traders to
compete with the British ; and from that period
the British influence over the Indians was sensibly
•
checked. But the Indians were nevertheless kept
as far as possible under their control, and they
still retained a foothold on our territory. The
commissioners under the Treaty of Ghent had
determined, in 1822, that Drummond's Island, at
the mouth of St. Mary's River, belonged to the
United States ; yet the British post was complained
of in 1826, as still remaining, and the American
Indians, to the number of 4,000, received presents
and annuities there during that year for their
services to Great Britain ; while at Maiden, then
and for many years thereafter, the same practice
prevailed. The evils of submitting to such a system
of subsidies are too manifest to need pointing out.
The government was much to blame for allowing
it. There are many persons now living who have
seen the fleets of the great northern canoes
lining our shore, and congregated savages, far
more numerous than the white inhabitants, receiv-
ing guns, knives and hatchets, as well as other
gifts, from the Maiden agency, and indulging after
their reception in a drunken frolic in our streets.
It is not to be denied, however, that they left be-
Chap, XIII.] UNIVERSITY. NEW COUNTIES. 407
hind them in Detroit a fair share of their pres-
ents.
In 1 82 1, among the new laws contained in the
volume published by the Board, was a statute re-
pealing the former University Act, and entrusting
the University and its affairs to twenty-one trus-
tees, the Governor being one ex-officio. Their
powers were not materially altered, but the Ter-
ritorial support was withdrawn. The schools were
still kept up, and a large lot was soon thereafter
conveyed to the institution, embracing a consider-
able parcel adjoining that already built upon.
This corporation continued as organized in 1821,
until re-organized under the State Constitution.
In 1822 six new counties were established, —
Lapeer, Sanilac, Saginaw, Shiawassee, Washtenaw
and Lenawee. They were not set apart as com-
pletely organized counties for some years. Thence-
forward occasional changes and additions were
made, the largest number of counties at one time
for many years having been created in 1829,
when counties were named after the President
Vice-President and Cabinet, and General Cass,
who was not long after made a member of it.
As the country opened, it became necessary to
divide it up very much in advance of dense set-
tlements.
The situation of Mackinaw and the counties west
of Lake Michigan was such that the judicial sys-
tem was found to work very badly. They had
the county courts, presided over by lay judges,
408 JUDICIAL GRIEVANCES AT THE NORTH. [Chap. XIIl.
but an appeal lay from these to the Supreme
Court, where a new trial was had by a jury as in
the lower court. The %ipreme Court had exclu-
sive jurisdiction of large cases, of real actions, of
admiralty and other United States business, and
of capital crimes ; and concurrent jurisdiction with
the county courts of other offences. But one
term of four weeks was held each year, in Detroit,
on the third Monday of September. At that time
navigation northward was in those days closed,
and even if open the hardship of bringing par-
ties and witnesses so far was excessive. James
Duane Doty, who had removed to Green Bay,
prepared and laid before Congress a full state-
ment of these grievances. It appears from his
showing, that the litigants were mostly private
traders, who were compelled to go to the Indian
country in winter to sell their goods to the Indi-
ans, and buy furs, and that the Indian debtors had
a curious rule of considering their debts paid by
a tender of the proper amount of furs at the
trader's residence. If he was absent or not ready
to receive them, he was reasonably certain to lose
his demand. The only months in which it was
safe for a trader to resort to the settlements were
May and the summer months. He also made
some remarkable showings concerning the amount
of business in that country. He asserts that no
territory (unless possibly Orleans) had yielded so
lartre a revenue to the United States from duties
on imports. That in 1807, the duties at Macki-
Chap. XIII.] NEW COURT. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 409
naw exceeded $40,000, although afterwards less, —
the decrease arising from some of the importa-
tions comine into New York, which before were
made directly through Canada. In November,
1 82 1, 3,000 packs of furs had been exported from
Mackinaw. It appears from other sources that
the sale of foreign goods, (chiefly to the Indians)
amounted in the Territory at cost to about a
million of dollars annually.
Congress, in accordance with the wishes of
the people, enacted, in January, 1823, that there
should be a separate judge appointed to hold a
district court in that region, having all the ordi-
nary jurisdiction of the Supreme and county
courts, subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the
Supreme Court on writ of error, but not other-
wise. It was to have full criminal powers, and
jurisdiction over all offences and transactions con-
nected with the commerce or dealings with the
Indians. Mr. Doty was made judge of the new
court.
The same session of Congress adopted a fur-
ther law, on the 3rd of March, 1823, completely
revolutionizing the Territorial government. The
legislative power was transferred to the Gover-
nor and Council, composed of nine persons se-
lected by the President and confirmed by the
Senate, out of eighteen elected by the people of
the Territory. Sessions were not to exceed sixty
days, and laws were subject to Congressional ab-
rogation. The judges were to have equity as
410 CAPITOL. [Chap. XIII.
well as common law powers, and their term of
office was reduced to four years, instead of during
o-ood behavior. The existing^ offices were to be-
come vacant on the ist of February, 1824. The
pardoning power was vested in the Governor for
all offences against the Territory, with pow^er of
reprieving in United States cases.
On the 22nd of October, 1823, the corner stone
was laid of a building intended for a court house,
and used until 1847 as the Territorial and State
Capitol. It was a fine building for that period,
and very well built. The original design had
been to build it in the Grand Circus, the central
space of Judge Woodward's Cobweb, and now
the finest public ground in Detroit. That spot
was then remote and inaccessible, being regarded
as far out in the country, and in the woods. The
new location was also complained of as too re-
mote, and accusations of all sorts of interference
and corrupting influences were made against the
land owners in the vicinity, who had secured the
capitol so near them, when it was a long and te-
dious journey to reach it. For many years it
stood alone in the wilderness, reached only by a
narrow line of single timbers for a walk, and too
far off for any one to resort to it except under
dire necessity. It is now far below the central
part of Detroit, and in the very heart of the
heaviest business.
In the midst of the tumult naturally caused by
the great political revolution, an amusing excite-
Chap. Xlll.] IRISH MANUSCRIPT. JUDICIAL CHANGES. 411
ment arose concerning a mysterious manuscript
which was found in Detroit, in some out of the
way place. The characters were fairly traced and
distinct, but the scholars were all perplexed. It
resembled no letters which any of them had ever
seen. Aid was sought in various quarters in vain.
At last, however, it was discovered that the hiero-
glyphics were Irish.
The change in the Territorial scheme was
peculiar. The Ordinance of 1787 had provided
for a council, but only as an upper house or
senate, and the functions of the Michigan Council
were both legislative and executive. Under that
instrument the judges were always to hold during
o-ood behavior. It is evident that one object of
the change was to get rid of some of the judges.
When the appointments were made. Judge With-
erell was re-appointed, it is said that Judge Griffin
declined a nomination, and Judge Woodward was
left out altogether. Judge Witherell was made
presiding judge, and Solomon Sibley and John
Hunt associate justices. Both of these gendemen
were members of the Detroit Bar. Judge Hunt
died in 1827, and the vacancy was filled by the
appointment of Henry Chipman, who, although a
native of Vermont, had practised several years in
South Carolina, and had recently removed to
Detroit. He was a lifelong intimate friend and
admirer of James L. Petigru of South Carolina,
whose fearless patriotism under the most trying
circumstances has made his memory honorable.
412 LEGISLATION. ERIE CANAL. [Chap. XIII.
fudge Chipman died but a few years since, leav-
ing a good name and spodess reputation. Judge
Woodward was, soon after the accession of Mr.
Adams, appointed one of the Judges of Florida.
The Council was organized in June, 1824, by
appointing Abraham Edwards President, and John
P. Sheldon Clerk. Its first business being to pro-
vide for obtaining the funds for its own payment,
and for punishing all offences against its dignity,
it then proceeded to enact a number of statutes,
mostly of no present interest. The Supreme
Court was required to hold sessions in several
places instead of one. Punishment by whipping
was only to be ordered by two justices, but allowed
for additional offences. Provision was made for
an annual thanksgiving. The name of the Huron
River of Lake St. Clair was changed to Clinton
River, to avoid confusion, as there was a Huron
River of Lake Erie in the southern part of Wayne
County. Most of the laws were the usual routine
legislation, carefully drawn and appropriate.
The year 1825 was one of much interest.
The Erie Canal made the journey to the west
easy and economical, and the country began to
settle very fast. Three steamers, the Superior,
the Henry Clay, and the Pioneer, were running
on Lake Erie before the season was over, and it
was estimated that they landed at Detroit 300
passengers a week during the latter part of the
season. A second paper — the Michigan Herald —
was started in Detroit by Chipman & vSeymour,
Chap. XIII.] PROGRESS. 413
and a paper was also printed in Monroe. Six
hundred people attended a Fourth of July meeting
at Pontiac, and Washtenaw County contained three
thousand inhabitants. Tecumseh was located and
named this year. On the 25th of February, Con-
gress adopted further legislation to popularize the
affairs of the Territory. The Governor and
Council were authorized to divide the Territory
into townships and incorporate them, and to
provide for the election of township officers. All
county officers were to be elected, except judges,
sheriffs, clerks, judges of probate and justices ot
the peace. These were excepted because their
functions were in no sense representative, but
belonged to the administration of justice, which
was of public and not of local concern. Governor
Cass, in his desire to consult the popular wishes,
overlooked this principle, and practically annulled
the proviso in the act of Congress which forbade
their election, by informing the people of the
townships and counties that he would appoint any
one whom they elected. There is now much
difference of opinion concerning the propriety of
electing the officers of justice, but at that time
there was none, and Congress would not have
sanctioned it.
The number of councillors was increased to
thirteen, and an appeal was granted from the Ter-
ritorial Court to the Supreme Court of the
United States.
In 1825, Captain John Burtis introduced upon
the river at Detroit a large horse-boat, for ferri-
414 INDIAN CAPTIVES. TANNER. [Chap. XIII.
age to Sandwich, (now Windsor), which excited
as much curiosity as the first steamer. This en-
terprising gentleman a few years later was also
the first to introduce a steam ferry-boat, named
the Argo, long famous in that region. It was
composed of a gigantic dug-out, decked over, and
propelled by an engine of moderate power, and
monopolized the business several years.
About this time rumors were circulated that
several of the captives taken at Frenchtown were
still among the Indians. Governor Cass examined
carefully into the facts, and published a letter stat-
ing that there was no reason to believe this, as
the captives were all grown up and old enough
when taken to know their origin, and would have
been discovered long before if living. He said
there were no captives left in the woods, who
were not voluntary associates of the Indians, and
that he knew of but two white men in that con-
dition— Tanner, ' and George Johnston, both of
whom preferred it.
In 1826, General Cass and Colonel McKenney
made a tour to the head of Lake Superior in
canoes, to make treaties with the northern Indi-
ans, and to secure access to the Lake Superior
I This Tanner was a somewhat dangerous character, who lived in the
Lake Superior country, near the Sault. In 1830, it was found necessary
to pass a special act to protect his daughter, Martha Tanner, from her
father, which made it a misdemeanor for him to use any but legal means
to get her into his control, against her will. This is probably the only
law ever passed which attached criminal consequences to injuries to a
single private person. Tanner was suspected of the subsequent murder of
James L. Schoolcraft, and disappeared at that time from the Sault.
Chap. XII f. McKENNEY EXPEDITION. ROADS. 415
mines. Colonel McKenney published a very en-
tertaining narrative of his expedition. On the 5th
of August they signed a treaty at Fond du Lac,
whereby the United States were allowed to search
for and remove metals or minerals, but not to gain
title to the lands. Annuities were given to the
Chippewas for support and education. They came
back from Fond du Lac to Detroit by canoe in
twenty-two days — making over fifty miles a day —
a very remarkable journey.
An additional grant was made to the Univer-
sity of a township of land, on the 20th of May,
1826, and the two townships were allowed to be
selected in parcels, instead of in whole township
tracts. Several roads were also projected by
Congress in this and subsequent years, mostly
running from the eastern border of the Territory
into the interior. The principal government roads
ran between Detroit and Maumee, Fort Gratiot,
Saginaw, Grand River and towards Chicago. These
not only opened the country but drew in many
laborers and contractors, who became valuable
citizens. The completion of the first locomotive
in America at Hoboken, by Mr. Stevens, is an
event of this period concerning Michigan as well
as the rest of the country.
The fort at Detroit was left without troops,
and in the next year (1827) was discontinued as
a fortified post. Some apprehensions were felt
about the Indians, but they were groundless. No
disturbance occurred afterwards which the local
416 FORT ABANDONED. KISHKAUKON. CHANGES. [Chap. Xlll.
authorities could not put down. The militia were
still kept in tolerable training, and had officers
who had seen service. There were also some
well drilled bodies of uniformed volunteers. After
the policy was definitely adopted of discontinuing
the military occupation, the large military reserve
was relinquished to the City of Detroit, and laid
out into city lots, on a rectangular plan, and not
accordinor to Woodward's scheme.
The principal local excitement was the arrest
and imprisonment, in 1826, of Kishkaukon, the
turbulent Saginaw chief, who aided and abetted
Big Beaver in the murder of another chief, Wa-
wasson, at Detroit. Kishkaukon was furnished
with poison by one of his wives, and thus evaded
punishment.
This year seven steamers ran between Buffalo
and Detroit. The exports of whitefish began to
be large, as well as of cider and apples. It is
also noted that in the winter oysters were brought
to Detroit, '' in good condition," and oyster cel-
lars became among the institutions of the city.
In 1827, Congress allowed the people to choose
thirteen Councilmen for themselves, instead of re-
porting twenty-six to the President and Senate
for selection. The Council abolished the county
commissioner system for a board ot supervisors,
and required every township to support schools,
either English, or English and classical, according
to population. This severed the schools from the
University control. A revision of the statutes
Chap. XIII.] HARSH LAW. EXPORTS. CONTEMPT CASE.
417
was also adopted, which very wisely abolished all
laws not contained in it. This became necessary
from the number of unpublished laws that were not
to be discovered among the records, but had been
lost. A new law to prevent kidnapping was con-
nected with a discreditable provision requiring all
persons of color to find sureties for their good
behavior. This statute was not enforced, but re-
mained a dead letter until, several years after, a
riot arose and an attempt was made to destroy
the jail, on account of the arrest of a fugitive
slave. In the excitement this law was called into
requisition, and for a time most of the few col-
ored people of Detroit remained in Canada. But
public sentiment would not tolerate it, and it was
at once repealed.
This year the first export of flour took place.
Miller & Jermain of Monroe shipped 200 barrels
to the east. Tobacco was also raised largely,
and the next year 100 hogsheads of Michigan
tobacco arrived at Baltimore, other parcels having
been sold elsewhere. In 1828, Judge Witherell
was made Secretary of the Territory, and William
Woodbridge was appointed to the Supreme Court
with Judges Sibley and Chipman. During this
year much feeling arose out of a contempt case
against John P. Sheldon, for publications in the
Detroit Gazette, which were claimed to be unau-
thorized comments on some action ot Judge
Woodbridge in the Supreme Court. In some of
the articles it was intimated that the paper had
27
418 RAILWAYS. FRENCH REVOLUTION. [Chap. XIII.
driven away one court and might do the same to
another. Judges Woodbridge and Chipman, on a
hearing before them, held him guilty and fined
him. A popular assembly passed strong resolu-
tions against the proceeding,^ and the fine was
paid by subscription. The controversy involves
the feelings of too many living persons to be
fully discussed here. It became very widely known,
and was the subject of much comment by the
press in various parts of the country.
In 1830, the first railroad was chartered. The
*' Pontiac and Detroit Railway Company " was
incorporated, with power to use a part of the
line of the turnpike. The project failed, and the
law was very crude and imperfect. In 1832, the
Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad was chartered,
which afterwards became the Michigan Central —
the State having bought out the company. This
was the first charter that was afterwards acted on.
In 1830, the country was greatly excited over
the French Revolution of July. The recent visit
of La Fayette had rekindled the old American
interest in France, and the news of that move-
ment, in which he took so great a part, was re-
ceived with rejoicing. A public meeting was held
in Detroit, in which all the citizens participated,
decked with the tri-color, and addresses were made
with enthusiasm.
Mr. De Tocqueville arrived in Detroit early in
the summer, and the news of the Revolution
Chap. XIII.] CASS MADE SECRETARY OF WAR 419
reached him in the woods between Detroit and
Saginaw.
The Territory now began to feel the effect of
general politics which had never before seriously
interfered. Major Rowland was removed from
the office of marshal, John L. Leib being placed
in his room. General John T. Mason, a non-resi-
dent, was appointed Secretary of the Territory,
which made him acting Governor in the Gover-
nor's absence, although he had obtained no per-
sonal knowledge of the country. It is well known
that at this time there were very loose party ties,
as the people were in an unsettled state, and re-
mained so until the separation into Whigs and
Democrats shordy after. But removals from office
became very frequent.
The v/ant of harmony in General Jackson's
Cabinet, which did not arise from political so
much as from personal difficulties, led to its
dissolution, in April, 1831. The office of Secre-
tary of War, having first been offered to Hugh
L. White of Tennessee, was given to General
Cass, who accepted it, and left Detroit in the
spring.
He was much respected by men of all parties
in Michigan. He had held his office six terms,
under Madison, Monroe, Adams and Jackson, and
had acted throughout with spirit and dignity. His
administration was eminendy popular, and he de-
sired and endeavored to secure to the people, as
soon as possible, all the privileges of self-govern-
420' SOCIAL. AFFAIRS. [Chap. XIII.
ment. If he erred in this respect, it was an error
in the direction of the largest popular authority.
His views were broad and sagacious, and he was
very free from personal bitterness and malignity.
The inevitable asperities of politics exposed him
in later years to the attacks made on all public
men, and his course in national affairs has been
severely assailed and warmly defended. But no
one now has any doubts about his sincere and
unqualified patriotism. He was a brave defender
and a true lover of his country.
The social condition of the Territory was re-
markably pleasant during his residence as Gover-
nor. The persons who came westward in those
days were principally Americans of enterprise
and intelligence. The schools and all other means
of improvement were carefully fostered, and it is
not often that a more cultivated or genial society
is found anywhere.
One pleasant feature of life in such commu-
nities as the early border towns of the west, was
the cordiality and freedom from stiffness which
produced as near an approach to republican sim-
plicity and equality as is ever found anywhere.
With no lack of comfort and elegance, there was
an entire absence of ostentation. Strangers were
often surprised and amused at one custom which
the inhabitants found both pleasant and profitable.
Sidewalks and paved streets were alike unknown,
and the condition of the city ways was for seve-
ral months in the year only equalled by the
Chap. XIII.] CARTS. 421
country roads described by Macaulay, when the
coach and four was used from necessity and not
from pride. In winter, the streets and rivers were
merry with carioles and sleighs. But at all sea-
sons, the favorite family vehicle for safe carriage
to church or party, was a common one-horse cart,
used as well for the most homely purposes as to
supply the place of a coach. The rude box,
cushioned with hay and buffalo robes, and crowded
with as many laughing inmates as could find room
on its spacious floor, was absolutely safe from up-
setting, and the absence of springs was usually
compensated by a yielding bed ot mud, so that
jolting was not felt. This strong two-wheeled
vehicle was backed up to the place of entry or
destination ; and on all occasions of public wor-
ship, or other concourse, a row of carts would be
found awaiting the hour of dismissal. The only
chance of accident was from the loosenino- of
the staple which held down the box in front, and
was meant to be unbolted when a load other
than human was to be tipped out at the back.
It occasionally happened that a mischievous urchin
would produce this catastrophe to a cart-full of
people, but never with tragical results. Carts
were not wholly superseded by carriages in De-
troit until within a quarter of a century.
The long winters, during which they were shut
in by themselves, compelled them to draw on
their own resources. Literary and scientific' soci-
eties and reunions were established very early.
422 LITERARY CONTRIBUTIONS. [Chap. Xlll.
and all who had anything to contribute to the
general enjoyment gave it cheerfully. A lyceum
was organized in the early days of the Territory,
in which papers were read by men of thorough
scholarship and research. Many important contri-
butions to history were thus secured. At one
time or another most of the prominent army offi-
cers have been stationed at Detroit, and always
did their share. Among other things they organ-
ized a Thespian Corps of much dramatic excel-
lence, in which the now venerable and not Lilli-
putian General James Watson Webb performed
as a graceful brunette. Major (afterwards Gene-
ral) Henry Whiting, an elegant writer, (author of
Ontwa and Sanilac, and minor poems, not now in
print, and editor of an important series of Wash-
ington papers,) read various essays before the
lyceum and elsewhere. Major John Biddle, Ma-
jor Thomas Rowland, Henry R. Schoolcraft and
General Cass, were also valued and ready con-
tributors. Major Rowland is said to have written
the Joel Downing papers, a series of humorous
political satires, after the style of Major Jack
Downing's letters. Mr. Charles C. Trowbridge
rendered permanent service to history by securing
narratives from eye-witnesses of the Pontiac war,
as well as other matters of interest. These gen-
tlemen, with others of like tastes, organized the
State Historical Society ; and the published
sketches of General Cass, Major Whiting, Major
Biddle and Mr. Schoolcraft remain the best sy-
Chap. XIII.] DOCTOR HOUGHTON. 423
nopsis of our history that has ever yet been pre-
pared. Doctor Douglass Houghton was first made
known to Michigan by having been secured by a
number of Detroit citizens, in 1829, to deHver a
winter course of lectures on chemistry. He was
obliged to remain through the whole season for
that purpose, and, although then but twenty years
of age, made so favorable an impression, and was
so favorably impressed, that he was placed upon
the second commission to seek the sources of
the Mississippi, and after his return became a per-
manent resident of Detroit. It is worthy of re-
mark that when General Cass made his first visit
to Detroit on his return from his mission to the
Court of Louis Philippe, Doctor Houghton, as
Mayor of Detroit, delivered the address of wel-
come; and when, in the fall of 1845, the melan-
choly news was received of the death of that
eminent devotee of science, the meeting which
was called to express the sense of public bereave-
ment was ad'dressed by General Cass, as principal
speaker, and his remarks were a feeling and elo-
quent tribute to one whom he had loved and ad-
mired ever since he had known him.
The Governor did not lose his concern in the
affairs of the Territory. He continued to use his
influence to further its prosperity; and while he
remained in the United States, he was useful in
many ways to the public interests of Michigan.
But the end of her pupilage was approaching.
And, in order that the sense of independence
424 ' IMPORTED OFFICERS. [Cmap. XIIl.
might not come too early, her destinies were for a
time entrusted to the care of strangers, most of
whom became, however, in due time, very loyal
citizens of their new realm.
CHAPTER XIV.
LAST YEARS OF THE TERRITORY.
The Territory now had a population of more
than thirty thousand, and its people were increas-
ing very fast. Every boat from the east brought
in large loads of immigrants, most of whom re-
mained in Michigan. The movement to the country
west of Lake Michigan came a little later, and
Chicago was not yet laid out as a town, although
it was a post of some consequence.
The laws, although reasonably stable for so
young a commonwealth, had been subject to some
fluctuations since the formation of the Council.
These changes related mostly to the method of
conducting local business and to courts. The
system of county courts by degrees gave way to
the circuit system, which in one form or another
has since prevailed. The county system was
altered. Beginning with the county court, which
for administrative purposes answered to the quarter
sessions, it changed first to the county commis-
sioner plan, borrowed from Massachusetts, and
then to the board of supervisors, derived from
426 EAbTERN COLONIES. [Chap. XIV.
New York. After the State came into existence
there were further changes.
The settlement of most of the more important
townships and villages was very fortunate. In a
great many instances neighborhoods were settled
by small colonies from the Eastern States and
New York, who came in sufficient numbers to give
harmonious character to their new homes, and
maintain wholesome and agreeable social sur-
roundings. The transition from an old to a new
country became less trying, and the newly broken
wilderness was brightened by familiar associations.
The effect of these united movements is still vis-
ible, and there are many old towns and townships
that keep the peculiar characteristics which marked
them forty and fifty years ago. There are not
many parts of the United States where, with a
full measure of enterprise, there are such plain
evidences of their American antecedents. The
growth of these colonies has drawn largely from the
places whence they emigrated. Those coming west
are always glad to find old friends and neighbors, or
their kindred, and naturally prefer to cast their
lot among them to settling among entire strangers.
When the immigration from Europe began to
reach large proportions, a great part of it passed
further on ; and the growth of Michigan was
chiefly made up of such as chose a country re-
sembling the wooded lands to which they were
accustomed, with a society where they would feel
at home, to the prairies which were so inviting to
Cmap. XIV.] PREPARATIONS FOR A STATE. 427
many Europeans, and a class of inhabitants with
whom it would take them some years to become
familiar. The increase of population was rapid
enough to indicate life and prosperity. It has
usually been gradual enough to enable those who
came in from any quarter to setde down into the
common ways, instead of forming separate clannish
communities, of alien manners and sympathies.
It was evident to all that the time could not
be far distant when Michigan must become a
State. As this time drew near, it was natural
that the people of the Territory should begin to
look upon the management of pubHc affairs as
fairly belonging to them ; and to prepare as far as
possible to make the change of rule free from
disturbance or abruptness. The southern boundary
had been tampered with, and there were difficul-
ties in prospect from that source. The increase
of removals from office made them daily conscious
that as yet their wishes were to have no weight
in the guidance of their most important affairs.
The people who had joined their fortunes to the
Territory were entirely passed by in the chief
executive appointments, and almost entirely in
some others. In some instances the appointments,
and the removals which they followed, were oc-
casions of much bitterness.
When General Cass was nominated as Secre-
tary of War, he was — though not by his own
procurement, — announced as Lewis Cass of Ohio.
This was criticised by the press, and defended on
428 GOVERNMENT FROM WITHOUT. [Chap. XIV.
the ground that a Territorial officer was Hke a
military officer, merely detailed on service which
did not orain him a residence. As the Ordinance
of 1787 expressly required the Governor, Judges
and Secretary, to reside in the Territory, and to
be freeholders there, and as General Cass had in
good faith made Michigan his home and the centre
of all his interests, this theory was not quite
satisfactory, and was not made any more so by
the practical application which regarded the people
as subjects rather than citizens, and supplied them
with a foreiorn orovernment. These abuses have
o o
now become apparently the normal conditions of
Territorial existence. They had not then been so
universally recognized, as not to be regarded as
unpleasant reminders of praetorian authority.
The personal worth of such officers may prevent
misgovernment, but the system is in violation of
free principles ; and however proper it may be
while there is no considerable population, and no
choice of fit persons for office, it is not adapted
to communities which are populous, and as well
informed on their own affairs, and as capable of
furnishing competent officers, as any of the States.
General Cass having resigned his Territorial
office. General [ohn T. Mason became acting
Governor. But his interests or duties called him
elsewhere, and, for reasons that seem to have been
confidential, he found it important to make a jour-
ney to Mexico, probably on a secret mission of
some kind, where he was more or less concerned
Chai'. XIV.] SECRETARY MASON. GOVERNOR PORTER.
429
in the events which led to the separation of Texas.
He was permitted to resign the Secretaryship in
favor of his son, Stevens Thomson Mason, ap-
pointed as from Kentucky. This gentleman re-
ceived his commission during a recess of the
Senate, and was sworn in on the 25th of July,
1831.
The office of Governor was not at once filled,
probably from reluctance on the part of some
persons to accept an office which was likely to
be of short duration. Major John H. Eaton, the
recently retired Secretary of War, was commonly
supposed likely to receive the appointment. He
was soon made Governor of Florida, instead. In
August, the name of George B. Porter, of Lan-
caster, Pennsylvania, was sent to the Senate, and
the nomination confirmed. Governor Porter was
a lawyer of ability, and had but a few months
before been made United States Marshal of
Eastern Pennsylvania. He at once removed to
Detroit with his family, and adopted Michigan as
his future home.
News of the probable appointment of Mr.
Mason as Secretary was received in Detroit on
the 23rd of July. As he had not yet reached
his majority, and was only slightly known to the
citizens as a pleasant and promising youth, his
selection to perform the chief executive functions
of the Territory was not received with favor. A
meeting of citizens was held, presided over by
Colonel David C. McKinstry, an active friend of
430
INDIGNATION MEETING. [Chap. XIV,
the administration ; and a committee was ap-
pointed to ascertain the facts, which was composed
of Messrs. McKinstry, Andrew Mack, Shubael Co-
nant, Oliver Newberry and John E. Schwarz. The
meeting having been held on Saturday night, they
waited on Mr. Mason (who had just returned from
Washington) on Monday, and learned from him
that he had that day received his commission and
qualified, — that his age was as had been repre-
sented, and that the President had appointed him
with full knowledge of the circumstances. They
reported accordingly to an adjourned meeting on
Monday evening, and a further committee was
appointed, (consisting of Eurotas P. Hastings,
Henry S. Cole, D. C. McKinstry, Oliver Newberry
and Alexander D. Eraser) to prepare resolutions
and a memorial to the President for his removal,
to be signed by the meeting and circulated in
the Territory. The resolutions were confined to
the illegality and impropriety of appointing a mi-
nor to such a position, which was declared to be
"a violation of the principles of our fundamental
law, and of the genius and spirit of the constitu-
tion ; and in the highest degree derogatory to the
freemen over whom he is thus attempted to be
placed ;" and declared that " we hold it to be our
duty to take prompt measures with a view to his
removal from that office."
The proceedings of this meeting, and the
memorial, produced much comment in the leading
journals of the country ; and the propriety of the
Chap. XIV. ] STEVENS THOMSON MASON 431
appointment was not maintained, but it was
claimed by the Globe — (then the official organ) —
that having been appointed, he should not be re-
moved except for actual misconduct. As many
removals had been recently made without cause
of that kind, the argument was not conclusive, and
It did not touch the point of minority. He was
not removed, but, toward the end of the next
session of the Senate, he was nominated and con-
firmed. In July or August, 1832, when he had
barely reached his majority.
The appointment and arrival of Governor
Porter rendered the position less anomalous, and
the frank and gendemanly reply of Mr. Mason to
the action of the meeting did much to disarm
criticism, and awaken kind feeling. His conduct
had never been arrogant, and while he had his
share of the youthful qualities which, though not
discreditable, are nevertheless not entirely suited
to great public responsibilities, he was manly and
generous, and very well adapted to obtain sym-
pathy. He Intimated in his reply that a young
man would be more ready to accept the guidance
of his elders than one of riper age. It was not
very long before he had mentors enough ; and
among his most devoted adherents were some of
his early critics. His public career, when the
burdens of state again fell upon him, was for a
considerable time very popular, and he never lost
his personal popularity. He died young, and he
is remembered very kindly.
482 ' POLITICAL EXCITEMENTS. [Chap. XIV.
It often happens that when party issues are
obscure, and personal questions prevail, there is
much less restraint in controversy than when men
are occupied with serious political problems. While
Mr. Mason paid proper respect to his more ex-
perienced advisers, his companions of the same
age naturally gathered about him, and became
demonstrative. There were many things which
were more or less exciting to older politicians, and
there has never been a time in Michigan when
there were so many personal quarrels and rencoun-
ters on political and semi-political grounds. The
use of weapons in private disputes has never
been approved in this community, but for a year
or two there were affrays altogether too frequent,
in which more or less blood was shed in a small
way, but, fortunately or unfortunately, with no fa-
tal results. Such ebullitions do not last long.
People very soon discover that men may differ
from them without being totally depraved, and
learn to live in charity, or at least in tolerance.
And while the disputes on national questions were
very bitter for several years, the interests of the
Territory were more pressing, and upon these
there was something approaching unanimity.
Governor Porter is not known to have incurred
any political or personal enmity. He was an able
man of good feeling and popular manners, with a
considerable knowledge of agricultural as well as
public affairs. He took that interest in the Ter-
ritory which might be expected of one who in-
Chap. XIV. j GOVERNOR PORTER. OHIO LINE. 483
tended to remain in it. He was, among other
things, very active in encouraging the improvement
of stock, and some of the best animals in the
State are descended from those he introduced.
He did not remain in office long enough to ac-
complish very much, but his administration was
judicious, and creditable, and his death was sin-
cerely regretted as a public loss.
The year 1831 passed without much that* is
deserving of record, beyond the removals and ap-
pointments, which operated here as they did else-
where, and are of no present importance. In the
spring of the year, a resolution was passed by
the Council, authorizing the Governor to negotiate
with Ohio to adjust the boundary line on the basis
oi a cession of all east of the Maumee, for an
equivalent westward. Nothing seems to have
come of this proposition. It had not yet been
supposed there was any grave doubt about the
rights of Michigan in the lands afterwards dis-
puted. Roads were laid out and other improve-
ments contemplated, and the future storm was not
visible.
The county seats of Hillsdale, Kalamazoo, Sag-
inaw, Lapeer and Jackson were located this year.
That of the latter count\ was first named with
the imposing title of Jacksonopolis. A year or two
after it was Anglicised into facksonburgh. Its
next metamorphosis was into its present shape of
Jackson, where it will probably remain. The early
statute books contain many ambitious names which
28
434 JOHN TRUMBULL. [Chap. XIV.
have one by one disappeared, until the State is
reasonably free- from the ridiculous titles that once
adorned its paper cities, whose ambitious clapboard
palaces, erected in an unbroken wilderness, were
never inhabited, and have ceased to surprise the
straggling explorer of their deserted avenues.
On the loth day of May, 1831, John Trum-
bull died at Detroit at the advanced age of 82.
He had not lived in the Territory more than six
or seven years — having come out to pass the re-
mainder of his days with his daughter, the wife
of Judge William Woodbridge. Judge Trumbull
was. a prominent and honored citizen during the
American Revolution, as well as afterwards, and
his poem of McFingaL was one of those well-
timed and well-written satires which sometimes
perform an important part in public emergencies.
It was a very felicitous sketch, which became in-
stantly popular, and produced as marked an effect
in the United States as Hudibras did in England.
It is one of those productions which are valuable,
not only for their keen satire and amusing hits,
but for their preservation of past manners and
ways, which are seldom depicted by grave writers,
yet are necessary to the comprehension of both
law and history. American literature is not rich
in those unstudied productions which might place
us in the same familiar relations with the olden
time in this country, which we are enabled to en-
joy with the days of Pepys, and Boswell, and
Alexander Carlyle, and Horace Walpole. Judge
Chap. XIV.] JUDICIAL CHANGES. STATE CONTEMPLATED. 4 35
Trumbull was not without distinction in various
public offices, but as an early writer, thoroughly
American in all things, and possessing both learn-
inor and Q^enius, he is entitled to honored remem-
brance. His placid and kindly face was not known
to many of this generation, but he ought not to
be forgotten by the citizens of his latest home.
In 1832, Judges Woodbridge and Chipman
were superseded by George Morell of New York,
and Ross Wilkins of Pennsylvania. Both of these
gentlemen were prominent in judicial life after
the State was admitted into the Union, as well as
during the Territory, and their reputation is familiar
to all our people. They were very important and
active agents in the development of our juris-
prudence.
On the 29th of June, 1832, a statute was passed
to call an election on the first Tuesday of Octo-
ber, to determine " whether it be expedient for
the people of this Territory to form a State gov-
ernment." At this election all free white male
inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years were
allowed to vote. The result of the election
was a very decisive expression in favor of the
change.
In the early spring of this year, Black Hawk,
a Sac chief who had moved beyond the Missis-
sippi, and by repeated conventions had agreed to
stay there, came across the river with a band of
Sacs and Foxes, and committed depredations in
436 BLACK HAWK WAR. [Chap. X1\.
northern Illinois, and southern Wisconsin, which
was then in the Territory of Michigan. The Gov-
ernor of Illinois sent up a force under General
Whiteside, who left Beardstown on the 27th of
April, with 1,800 men, for the mouth of Rock
River. General Atkinson moved up from St.
Louis early in April, with a force of regulars.
Colonel Henry Dodge of Michigan raised a force
of Territorial volunteers, and rendered very im-
portant services, having taken measures to prevent
mischief from the Winnebagoes and other doubt-
ful Michigan Indians, and then entered vigorously
upon a decisive campaign. Many sharp fights
took place during the spring and summer, and
on the 2d of August the last battle was fought,
in which Colonel Dodge and Colonel Zachary
Taylor, afterwards President of the United States,
had command in the advance, and the Indian
force was nearly annihilated. Black Hawk was
held as a prisoner for several months, being last
confined in Fortress Monroe. He was, in June,
1833, taken out of that fort, and escorted through
the principal towns back to the Mississippi ; and
during the remaining seven years of his Hie he
behaved himself with propriety, and made no fur-
ther trouble. The officer who first took him down
the river to Jefferson barracks was then known
as Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, of the I'uited States
Army. Although intelligent, and having some
causes of grievance, Black Hawk was not one of
the best types of Indians. The Sacs and Foxes
#
Chap. XTV.l CHOTF.RA. 437
had a bad reputation when the French first came
to Detroit, and they never lost it. Black. Hawk's
own story shows him to have been very treach-
erous. He was an old man of 65 when this last
Indian war broke out, and was in the British in-
terest as long as they provided for him. He
seems to have had an idea that the British gov-
ernment would help him. He had never kept
informed of the American settlement of Michigan,
and nothing surprised him more than the changes
in Detroit and the other settlements, with which
he had been familiar during the war of 181 2.
He had not learned before that Maiden had ceased
to plague the Northwest.
The losses of men by the casualties of battle
in the Black Hawk war were not so great as
might have been feared. There was, however, a
worse enemy than the Indians, and the ravages
of the Asiatic cholera were fearful. This dreadful
disease did not reach many of the troops while
in the field, near the seat of war. But it inter-
cepted them on the way, and broke up a part of
the expeditions sent out from the seaboard.
The coming of the cholera had been expected,
as it had been making its way steadily westward
from Asia for many months. The Michigan Legis-
lative Council passed laws early in the summer,
for the proper organization of boards of health,
and had given large powers to the municipal
bodies. But while cleanliness was known to be
essential, no remedies had yet been discovered to
438 CHOLERA. [Chap. XlV,
check or cure the disease ; and while the physi-
cians were diligently *studying how to meet it, all
manner of nostrums and preventives were resorted
to by the terrified people. It reached Detroit be-
fore midsummer, and at once the large body of
laboring people, who had nothing to keep them
in the city, fled into the country, with exaggerated
stories of horrors, which were bad enough at the
best. Many citizens were attacked by the cholera
in a severe form, and a large share of them died.
A church building was converted into ^ hospital,
and all was done which could be to mitigate the
sufferings of the victims. Business was hardly
thought of. The air, whether really or in fancy,
appeared unusually oppressive ; and at nightfall,
at the street crossings and all along the public
ways, as well as at private houses, great kettles
of burning pitch blazed, and threw up dark columns
of smoke late into the night. The customary so-
lemnities of burial were shortened, and sometimes
neglected. A rigid quarantine intercepted the or-
dinary course of travel. But the omission which
at first was most noted, was that of the tolling
of the bell. A custom had prevailed for a long
time of ringing the passing bell, immediately after
the death of any person in the town. , The build-
ings were mostly within a small compass, and
the bell of the First Protestant Society, which
was used for all public purposes, could be dis-
tinctly heard everywhere. In such small commu-
nities the death of any one interests the feelings
Chap. XIV.] MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS. 439
of all ; and the tolling which announced that
some one had just departed, was always heard
with solemn emotions. But when the victims of
the cholera began to multiply, the frequency of
these knells added to the general panic, and it
became necessary to discontinue them. The cus-
tom once broken was not renewed, and was soon
forgotten.
A considerable force of United States troops
was ordered to the seat of war, and they were all
sent up by steamboats from Buffalo, bound for
Chicago. These detachments reached Detroit
early in July. The Michigan volunteers from De-
troit had left before the cholera became fatal, and
marched across the country ; but their services
were not required, and the orders were counter-
manded before they reached Lake Michigan.
Colonel Garry Spencer's cavalry troop had
marched beyond the St. Joseph's River, but the
infantry had not gone very far before they were
recalled. The first detachment of regulars, con-
sisting of 220 men, accompanied by Major General
Winfield Scott, went up on the steamboat Sheldon
Thompson. When she left Chicago on the re-
turn" trip, one officer and 51 men had died, and
80 were sick. General Scott and several other
officers had mild attacks of the cholera, but s"bon
recovered.
On the 8th of July it was known in Detroit
that of 370 who had gone up after General
Scott's party, under Colonel Twiggs, and had been
440 CHOLERA VICTIMS. TERRITORY EXTENDEt). [Chai'. XIV.
compelled to land below Fort Gratiot, only 150
remained — a large number having died of cholera
and the rest deserted. Very few of these panic-
stricken wretches reached Detroit. Most of them
died in the woods and on the road, and of these
many were devoured by wolves and other
beasts. A third detachment, under Colonel Cum-
mings, had at first encamped at Detroit, where
several died. The survivors were embarked on
the William Penn, but in a short time were com-
pelled to return. They were put in camp again
at Springwells, and there was afterwards compara-
tively little mortality among them. It was
reckoned that more than half of the aggregate
commands were swept away. Of six companies
that left Fortress Monroe, but 180 men returned;
and the losses among others were in similar pro-
portion.
Among the more prominent citizens who died
during this summer, were Father Gabriel Richard,
and General Charles Larned, — a distinguished
lawyer, who had been Attorney General of the
lerritory. Jacob M. Howard, and Franklin
Sawyer, (afterwards Superintendent of Public In-
struction,) were students in his office.
On the 28th of June, 1834, all the territory
west of the Mississippi River and north of
Missouri, as far as the Missouri and White Earth
Rivers, was attached to, and made a part of the
Territory of Michigan. The Legislative Council
was also authorized to hold an extra session, on
Chap. XIV.] DEATH OF GOVERNOR PORTER. 441
the call of the Governor. The necessity of this
arose from the annexation.
On the .5th of July, Governor Porter died of
cholera, which was during that summer very fatal.
Seven per cent of the population of Detroit died
in a single month. His funeral services were
celebrated in the Capitol, and were attended by
a very large concourse of people, who held him
in great respect. His death would have been a
loss to the Territory at any time, and it was at
this time especially lamentable, as the public
affairs soon became critical, and would have been
all the better for his good sense and prudence.
The Council was called together by Acting
Governor Mason in September. The western ter-
ritory was set off into the Counties of Dubuque
and Des Moines, and put in the same circuit
with the County of Iowa, east of the Mississippi.
A law was passed tor taking a census of the
Territory. Provision was also made for appoint-
ing boundary commissioners, to adjust the southern
boundaries with Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Noth-
ing came of this latter project.
Governor Porter's place was never tilled.
General Jackson sent to the Senate for confirma-
tion the name of Henry D. Gilpin. This nomina-
nation was rejected. The President and Senate
were not at this time in full accord, and Mr.
Gilpin was obnoxious as having been connected
with some of the matters which had given rise to
the difficulty. This arose chiefly trom the appoint-
442 POPULATION. [Chap. XIV.
inent of Roger B. Taney as Secretary of the
Treasury, and his removal of the pubHc deposits
from the United States Bank, which led to resolu-
tions of censure on the part of the Senate, and
to a new political organization and the merging
of the old parties. Mr. Taney's nomination was
held over by the President until the end of the
session, when he was rejected at once. General
Jackson made no further nomination after Mr.
Gilpin's rejection. Afterwards he had entertained
the idea of filling the vacancy by an appointment
during the recess. Finding this could not be done,
he left Secretary Mason in charge of the executive
department of the Territory, until he became dis-
satisfied with his course during the period before
the establishment of the State government. As
this occurred but a few weeks before Governor
Mason was elected and assumed office under the
State, it was too late to be anything but a source
of some trouble to the estimable — but impru-
dent— gentleman who last undertook to govern
Michigan as a Territory.
The census, which was completed before the
adjournment of the Council, showed that, within
the boundaries of the original Territory of Mich-
igan, there were 87,273 free inhabitants. This
was an increase of 61,768 beyond the 26,505 re-
ported by the census of 1830. More people had
come into Michigan in four years than the 60,000
which entitled her to become a State. This did
not include the large immigration west of Lake
Chap. XIV.] WISCONSIN. 443
Michigan, whereby Wisconsin had already obtained
a population which would give her, if a Territory,
the right to a complete popular legislature. The
Legislative Council of Michigan, in December,
1834, memorialized Congress upon the subject of
establishing a Territorial government for Wisconsin.
This had been mooted for some time, and " Huron"
Territory had been the vei^ inappropriate name
before suggested for it. The Hurons had not
lived there, and Lake Huron did not touch it.
The name finally selected was appropriate and
satisfactory. Nothing was done by Congress to
set apart this Territory until Michigan was ready
for admission, when Wisconsin was set off, and
her new career of independence began on the
4th of July, 1836. But the last delegate to Con-
gress from Michigan Territory, George W. Jones,
had been purposely allowed to be chosen from
Wisconsin ; and the Michigan authorities had done
all in their power to advance the admission of
that region as a separate Territory.
On the 26th of January, 1835, an act was
passed, which, after reciting the act of 1805,
whereby the territory north of an east and west
line, running from the southerly bend of Lake
Michigan to Lake Erie, was set off as the Terri-
tory of Michigan, and the people, whenever there
should be 60,000 free inhabitants, were authorized
to form a permanent constitution and organize as
a State, appointed an election of delegates to form
a convention to adopt a constitution and State
444 CONSTITUTIONAl. CONVENTION. BOUNDARIES. [Chap. XTV.
government. The election was to be held on vSat-
urday, April 4, 1835; and the convention was to
meet at Detroit, on the second Monday of May.
The delegates were to be adult citizens of the
United States, and the voters adult free white male
inhabitants. The inhabitants of the strip of land
attached to Indiana were allowed to vote in the
districts and counties 'immediately north of them.
This Indiana strip had never been included in the
organized counties of Michigan, and the Council
disclaimed any design to assume control over it,
until their rights could be adjudicated.
Up to this time Michigan had been in peaceable
possession of the country east of Indiana, and
north of the latitude of the southern point of Lake
Michigan, as surveyed in 181 8, and the authority
of Ohio had not been in force there. It had been
included in 1827 in the Township of Port Law-
rence, laid out at the same time with the earliest
township divisions in the rest of^ the Territory.
The first act laying out Territorial roads, in 1828,
had established such a road from Port Lawrence,
through Adrian, in Lenawee County, to intersect
the Chicago Road, and the authorities had sur-
veyed and laid it out, and opened it, at the ex-
pense of the Territory. The Erie and Kalamazoo
Railroad was chartered in 1833, from Port Law-
rence to Adrian, and thence to the Kalamazoo
River; and the only authority whereby lands were
obtained for its line was under the laws of
Michigan.
Chap. XIV. j BOUNDARY DISPUTE 445
In the beginninor of this year, (1835,) Governor
Lucas of Ohio sent in to the Legislature of that
State a message asserting jurisdiction over the
territory south of the mouth of Maumee Bay, and
urging legislation to possess and control it. The
Legislative Council of Michigan, upon receiving
notice of this by a message from the acting Gov-
ernor, passed an act on the 12th of February,
1835, "to prevent the exercise of foreign jurisdic-
tion within the limits of the Territory of Mich-
igan," whereby it was made highly penal for any
one to accept or exercise any public office, in any
part of the Territory, except by commission from
the United States or from Michigan. On the 23rd
of February, the Ohio Legislature passed a series
of acts and resolutions, asserting jurisdiction over
the land in question, declaring that measures
should be taken by all the departments of the
State government to establish it; extending or-
ganized counties so as to cover it, and directing
commissioners to run the boundary line ; and re-
quiring all public officers to extend their authority
over it. Governor Lucas at once notified the
county officers to exercise their functions, and the
major general under whose command the new dis-
tricts were placed to enrol the inhabitants in the
militia ; and he determined to attend the spring
elections in person, to see to the complete re-or-
ganization, and appointed commissioners to meet
him at Perrysburgh, on the ist of April, to run the
line. The Territorial authorities broueht the mat-
446 BOUNDARY DISPUTE. [Chap. XIV.
ter to the attention of the President. Congress
had adjourned without passing an act giving the
land to Ohio, which had been sought by Ohio
but had failed at two recent successive sessions.
Governor Mason ordered General Joseph W.
Brown, commanding the Michigan militia, to hold
himself in readiness to resist any attempt of Ohio
to carry out the threatened measures ; and the
Council appropriated money to enable the execu-
tive to enforce the laws of the Territory. The
Michigan authorities used such force as was ne-
cessary, to repel intrusion and arrest offenders
against the law, and the difficulties became very
menacing. The Attorney General of the United
States, Benjamin F. Butler, (of New York,) de-
cided that the Michigan authorities were in the
right, and such was the view of the President and
his advisers ; but Messrs. Rush and Howard were
sent out as commissioners, to conciliate matters if
possible. It was afterwards claimed by Governor
Lucas, but denied at Washington, that these gen-
tlemen had made an agreement that the Ohio line
should be run as claimed, and the people be al-
lowed to follow their individual predilections as to
which government they would obey, until the close
of the next session of Congress. It never was
pretended that the Michigan authorities consented
to this ; and if the commissioners had possessed
any authority, which the Secretary of State ex-
pressly denied had been attempted to be bestowed
on them, — such an arrano^ement as the latter,
Chap. XIV.] BOUNDARY DISPUTE. 447
which practically would be anarchy, would have
been at least very unlikely. The Michigan au-
thorities did not accept or act on such an arrange-
ment, and proceeded to arrest offenders, as before,
including a portion of the party of the Ohio sur-
vey commissioners. Governor Lucas called an
extra session of the Legislature of Ohio, and they
passed a statute agreeing to the terms as he as-
serted them of the United States commissioners,
provided the United States would compel Mich-
igan to respect them, — otherwise, directing that
the Ohio laws should be carried out ; and they
appropriated $300,000 for that purpose. The
Governor, on the i8th of June, sent in a second
message enclosing a sharp correspondence with
Washington, in which the acting Secretary of State
denied the correctness of the Governors under-
standing of the views of the commissioners and
of the President, and intimated that the latter
might find it necessary to interfere with the power
of the United States, if Ohio persisted in running
the line with an armed escort. Governor Lucas
afterwards sent commissioners to Washinoton, and
it was there understood that General Jackson
would recommend the Michigan authorities to
avoid any unnecessary violence. For a time
things remained quiet, with an occasional difficul-
ty, but no general interference.
The Legislature of Ohio had, at the latest
session, undertaken to organize a new county
named Lucas county, covering the seat of difficulty,
448 TOLEDO WAR [Chap. XIV.
and it was understood that it was intended to
open court at Toledo on the 7th of September,
and that levies of troops had been made to pro-
tect the judges in so doing. Governor Mason
thereupon ordered out the Michigan forces, and
took possession of Toledo, accompanying the
troops in person. It is said, but on doubtful au-
thority, that the court was organized by night,
and secretly, and immediately adjourned. No op-
posing forces were encountered by Governor
Mason ; and the Michigan levies were led back
over the line, and disbanded at their various
points of rendezvous. The feeling all over Mich-
igan was intense, and it is fortunate there was no
fatal bloodshed.
Many of the reminiscences of the campaign
partake of the ludicrous. It is not desirable to
record the personal incidents and misadventures
which our troops reported as having befallen
themselves and some of their civil adversaries.
Michigan had a skeleton in her own closet, in the
shape of a " claim of Lewis E. Bailey for a horse
lost in the service of the State, in defending the
supremacy of the laws." Year after year, from
1836 to 1846, this claim was regularly presented
and regularly rejected, until in the latter year it
dawned upon the minds of the Legislature that
it might be better to pay fifty dollars, and inter-
est trom January ist, 1836, than to waste time and
printing enough to ^cost more than a regiment of
horses ; and they surrendered to a siege that
Chap. XIV. J SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. 449
parallelled in duration diat of Troy. Time has
healed die odier griefs, and if the historian is
compelled to discuss them, it is not with the pa-
thetic lament of Queen Mary over the loss of
Calais, nor the hankering for territory which has
made Alsace-Lorraine a debatable s^round so lonor.
However doubtful the bargain was originally by
which Ohio obtained the spoils, it has been ratified
too thoroughly to be disputed ; and our only
present emulation is friendly and neighborly.
The history of the disputed boundary is not
complicated. The Ordinance of 1787, which, as
already pointed out, was not a mere statute —
which the confederated Congress had no power
to enact — was in itself a compact, and article
of government, for a region over which Congress
itself could not, as then organized, legislate di-
rectly at all. It had no ordinary legislative power,
and reserved none ; but, in pursuance of arrange-
ments which had all the essentials of treatv obli-
gations, defined certain limits for the temporary
exercise of authority by a legislative board, until
the population should reach 5,000 free male in-
habitants, after which the legislative power of the
Territory was absolute, subject only to certain
specified restrictions necessary to justice. The
time for oro-anizino; the Lei^-Islature was ascertained
by the Territorial, and not by the Congressional,
authorities, and it was expressly stipulated, as a
perpetual compact, that while, as a matter of gi-ace,
the future States might be admitted with less than
29
450
SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. [Chap. XIV.
60,000 inhabitants, each should be entitled to form
a permanent constitution and State government,
and be admitted into the Union as a matter of
right, whenever it should have that number. It
was not in any way intimated or ..implied that
Congress should be first required to give permis-
sion, before the initial steps were taken. The or-
dinance itself gave this permission, as plainly as
it did that for establishino- a Territorial Le^isla-
ture to supplant the Legislative Board. The only
difficulty that could arise must have arisen out of
the authority to create five, instead of three
States. And this was the ground insisted upon
by those who questioned the right of Michigan.
The perpetual compact provided for '' not less
than three, nor more than five. States;" and the
i
three contemplated were formed by the indefinite
continuation northward, to the national boundary
line, of the present lines between Ohio and Indiana,
and between Indiana and Illinois. These were sub-
ject to this proviso: "Provided, however, and it is
further understood and declared, that the boundar-
ies of these three States shall be subject so far to
be altered that if Cono^ress shall thereafter find it
expedient, they shall have authority to form one or
two States in that part of the said territory which
lies north of an east and west line drawn through the
southeidy bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And
whenever any of the said States shall have sixty
thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall
be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress
Chap. XIV.] SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. 451
of the United States, on an equal footing with
the original States in all respects whatever ; and
shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitu-
tion and State government : Provided, the con-
stitution and government so to be formed, shall
be republican, and in conformity to the principles
contained in these articles ; and so far as it can
be consistent with the general interests of the
confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at
an earlier period, and when there may be a less
number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty
thousand."
This compact was declared to be perpetual.
It was established when there was no expectation
that any change w^ould be made in the articles of
confederation, which would give Congress any
legislative power that could tamper with the Or-
dinance, or provide for governing Territories by
direct Congressional interference.
The practical construction put upon it by the
first Congress of the United States under the
Constitution, was that it was unalterable. There
were but two powers reserved to Congress by the
Ordinance ; one of them — the appointing power —
being executive in its nature, and the other — the
designation of States north of the latitude of the
southern point of Lake Michigan — being one of
those mixed powers which may be exercised by
legislatures themselves, or delegated. By the Con-
stitution of the United States the appointing power
was made executive entirely ; and the power ol
452
SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. [Chap. XIV.
admitting States was left Congressional. Instead
of remodelling this Ordinance, the Congress of
1 789 adopted this preamble : " IVhereas, in order
that the Ordinance of the United States in Con-
u^ress assembled, for the oovernment of the Ter-
ritory Northwest ot the River Ohio, may continue
to have full effect, it is requisite that certain pro-
visions should be made, so as to adapt the samie
to the present Constitution of the United States.
" Be it enacted," etc. The chanoe made was in
transferring the executive functions to the Presi-
dent and Senate, who under the Constitution had
succeeded to that branch of the old powers of
Congress. It is also to be remembered that the
compact against change did not cover any but six
specified articles of the Ordinance.
No subsequent act of Congress for the estab-
lishment of Territories, outside of the lands owned
before the Constitution, has ever contained com-
pacts beyond the recall of Congress ; and it may
be doubtful whether Congress could so stipulate.
But no such doubt can exist concerning the Con-
trress of the Confederation ; and the Compress of
1 789 evidently intended to respect their agree-
ments.
The east and west line which was named in
the Ordinance, was adopted without qualification.
The suggestion of Mr. Binney that it was in-
definite, because it has no named terminus, would
hardly have been made on sober reflection. It Is
as definite as any boundary line could be made
Chap. XIV.] SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. 458
for dividing northern from southern jurisdiction ;
and is simply a parallel of latitude, which extends
wherever there is any territory to bound. It is a
mere assumption to claim that the Congress of
1787 laid it out under a mistake, or intended
to give the eastern State the entire southern shore
of Lake Erie, or any specific part of it. It gave
no lake privileges to either of the two others,
which were quite as worthy of consideration. It
is definite, and is not ambiguous. In a private
contract no court could find it open to construction.
Whether Congress now has the abstract power
to disregard and change such a stipulation, has
ceased to be a practical question. In the case of
the southern boundary of Michigan, it required
the consent of the State to the change before
admitting it, and thus precluded the discussion of
the question before the courts. The main question
at issue in 1835 was whether such a change had
been attempted, and whether, if attempted, valid
or invalid, it was in accordance with good faith.
A nation may do many things lawfully which she
cannot do honestly.
When the County of Wayne was first laid out,
in 1796, it included all the disputed territory, and
its southern line extended to the Cuyahoga River.
When it was proposed to create the State of
Ohio, this county was not consulted in the first
instance ; and if Judge Burnet is correct, the State
was formed below the east and west line of the
Ordinance for the very purpose of excluding
464 SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. [Chap. XIV.
Wayne County, for fear it would change the
political character intended to be given to the
new State. By the act of Congress, which pur-
ported to give all inhabitants a right to vote for
delegates to a convention, no one in Wayne
County was allowed to vote, either in his own
county or in any other district. It had not been
ascertained that the territory included had 60,000
people, and the law allowing a State to be formed
was matter of favor and not of right. The
statute assumed the precise boundary of the
Ordinance, until it struck Lake Erie, or the
national boundary line. The delegates were elected
to do precisely what this act called for ; and their
action was not referred back to the people for
ratification. The act of Congress reserved the
right to annex the country north of the line and
of Ohio, to that State, or to organize one or more
States there according to the Ordinance. No
, power was given to the Ohio convention to change
the lines. That convention, however, having
learned that the line mentioned in the Ordinance
might probably run further south than was supposed,
passed a resolution providing that, with the assent
of Congress, the line should in that case be drawn
from the south point of Lake Michigan to the
north entrance cape of Maumee Bay.
No act or resolution was passed by Congress,
for the express purpose of admitting the State, or
approving its constitution. The members were
allowed their seats in the two houses, like those
Chap. XIV.] SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. 465
from other States ; and the only laws passed as-
sumed that the State had already become one of
the United States by the act of Its convention
alone, under the'terms of the enabling act of 1802.
When Michigan was organized as a Territory,
the line of the Ordinance of 1787, and not that
recommended by the Ohio convention, was adopted
as the southern boundary. This wast just two
years after Ohio was admitted, and when her sen-
ators and representatives were able to represent
her interests in Congress. Either they did not
oppose the line, or their opposition was overruled.
It is evident the Ordinance was still reorarded as
sacred.
This is all of the legislation of Congress re-
cognizing or establishing boundaries. The debates
in Congress in 1834 and 1835, ^-s well as after the
formation of the Constitution of Michigan, were
very full, and several reports were made. It was
held with almost absolute unanimity, that the dis-
puted territory belonged to Michigan, until Con-
gress should legislate further. Mr. Adams and
others held the Ordinance was irrevocable, and be-
yond the power of Congress at all. Others,
holding that Congress had power to give the land
to Ohio, thought it policy to so grant it. Every
one felt that unless Michigan consented, there was
room for legal controversy. A Territory could
not sue or be sued in the United States Supreme
Court. A State could sue another State there ;
and it had been held in the very recent contro-
456 SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. [Chap. XIV.
versy between New York and New Jersey, as it
has been several times since, that boundary ques-
tions could be so litigated. It was only by acting
before Michigan became a State, and by keeping
her out until she surrendered her claims, that the
matter could be put beyond doubt. Indiana and
Illinois were as much interested as Ohio in fore-
closine this future liticration ; and Michigan was
coerced into either giving up her claim, or being-
left where she could never litigate it. How this
was done will appear presently.
If Congress lawfully possessed the power to
change the boundaries, its decision would have
been binding, although in violation of a very
solemn contract. Had it been made without the
extorted consent of Michigan, the question of
Congressional right could have been settled by
the United States Supreme Court. This would
have lessened the temporary excitement. Ohio
was not willing to leave open her present right,
or her right under such legislation ; but, with In-
diana and Illinois, desired to have it foreclosed
by some act which would bind Michigan at all
events.
The equities of Ohio to have the line changed
were placed by that State, or its Governor, chiefly
on three grounds, viz : the intent of the Congress
of 17S7 to follow the supposed line, which was
further north than the real one ; the action of
the State constitutional convention ; and the pre-
ference of the people within the district.
Chap. XIV.] SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. 467
The last point, if true, could hardly be regard-
ed. The country had been settled, and its settle-
ment made possible and facilitated, entirely under
Michigan law ; and the new preferences, if they
existed, were very recent, and were created by
the promise of improvements, coming from
Indiana, which, if important enough, would sooner
or later have been made necessary under any
circumstances. But if the inhabitants of any por-
tion of a State or Territory are entitled to have
their wishes for a change of allegiance respected,
there would soon be an end to governments.
If there was a mistake concerning the real
position of the southerly point of Lake Michigan,
no one knows just where it was supposed to be
or who made it. The pencil line on a map said
to have been before the committee of Congress
— although the map has never been verified, and
the story is somewhat apocryphal, — is said at
the same time to have thrown the line a little
below Detroit, and far to the north of the Mau-
mee. There is no evidence that Congress paid
any attention to this question, or cared where the
line fell; inasmuch as it was subject to their
future discretion whether to run the line at all or
not. It was not the wish of the people of Mich-
igan in 1802 to be separated from Ohio. It was
known they would have voted against this ; and
when they were separated, it was on the basis
that all of Wayne County should be cut off from
a voice or interest in the new State. If the Con-
458 SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. [Chap. XIV.
crress of 1S02 examined into the matter at all of
the location of the line, it is quite as likely, and
more consistent with honesty, that they meant to
follow the then existing lines of Wayne County,
as that they meant to cut off a portion of it
without giving the people a right assured to every
other inhabitant of the country set apart as Ohio.
Wayne County was very well known to cover
this land.
What map was supposed to have been before
the Congressional committee is not known.
There were undoubtedly maps then extant which
did not place Lake Michigan as far to the south-
ward as it really ran. But there were others
that did. If it had been deemed essential, some
care would probably have been taken to find out
the latitude. The French explorers often gave
the result of their observations with accuracy, but
their maps are not uniform, and very few maps
of that period were carefully protracted. D'An-
ville's map places the south end of Lake Michi-
gan below any part of Lake Erie. Some of the
French and English maps bring it so far east as
to strike the line between Ohio and Indiana.
The map in Parkman's '* Conspiracy of Pontiac "
is substantially accurate, in regard to the relative
positions ol the two lakes. It is not stated from
what that was copied. It may be modern, but if
so it is not drawn from modern sources in many
respects, and in some is very inaccurate. It is
probable that in the one particular of making the
Chap. XIV.] SOUTHERN BOUNDARY 459
point of Lake Michigan north of the Maumee
Rapids, the preponderance in number exists in
favor of it among the maps then in vogue. But
where this is so, they do not even approach an
agreement as to the real Hne. And it is not
asserted that the Ohio convention of 1802 acted
on any map or upon any other definite informa-
tion, in desiring Congress to change the Hne.
They proceeded on the statement of a man who
was no surveyor. The equity is a very sHght
one, at best, that hangs on such a support, and
the evidence is not clear even as to that.
As to the action of the convention of 1802,
its force is the other way, for they knew the line
must be changed, if made to suit them, and Con-
gress never changed it, but at several different
periods acted adversely. The organization of
Michigan, in 1805, was upon the expressed theory
that the line was at all events to run east from
the point of Lake Michigan. In 1807, Governor
Hull procured from the Indians a grant of right
of way for a road from the foot of the Miami
Rapids to the Connecticut Reserve, for the
expressed purpose of connecting the Ohio and
Michigan settlements. In 181 2, Congress required
the Michigan line to be run on the parallel of
the south point of Lake Michigan. Applications
were made to Congress on behalf of the more
northern line as desired by Ohio, repeatedly
through a period of several years, and were never
acceded to. Ohio never attempted to claim by
460
SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. [Chap. XIV.
practical steps that the Hne was already as she
desired, until Michipan was about becoming; a
State ; when Governor Lucas took the measures
already alluded to, under pretexts of title.
The action of (Governor Mason and the Mich-
igan Council was no more than every civilized
government is bound to exercise, when her peace-
able possession under the law of the land is
suddenly invaded. The United States laws, as
well as the Territorial laws, had defined the Terri-
torial jurisdiction ; and the Territory was in posses-
sion,— not recently asserted but long undisturbed.
The civil officers had no riaht to abdicate their
powers ; and neither the Governor nor the Presi-
dent, both of whom w^ere the servants of the law,
could have relieved those officers from liability for
neglecting the duties which the law laid on them.
No Michigan officer ever attempted to surrender
the authority of the Territory. Had he done so
he could have bound no one. There is no likeli-
hood that Commissioners Rush and Howard made
any such attempt. If they had attempted it, their
action would also have been nugatory; and every
one of common sense must have known it to be
so. The President of the United States has power
to remove governors of Territories, and may thus
indirectly secure such action as men who choose
to abdicate their manhood may take to please him.
But neither he nor his appointees could lawfully
interfere to change or suspend the laws of the
Territory ; and General Jackson is not shown to
Chap. XIV.J CONDUCT OF MICHIGAN. 461
have asserted any such power. It is not within
the constitutional power of any State to set on
foot a war of invasion ; and acts of violence done
beyond the State by any one would be in law
mere private misdeeds, which would be punishable
in the same way, whether authorized or disavowed
by the State. The opinion of Mr. Butler, and of
the United States executive, was In harmony with
these principles. While a nation may, perhaps,
by avowing an act of Its officers abroad, cover
them from personal responsibility and put itself
in their stead, a State of the Union has no extra-
territorial functions, and cannot justify others in
doing" wrongful acts elsewhere.
It is probable that, in the excitement of the
times, those Michigan officers who performed
their functions In the disputed territory, were not
always careful to measure their conduct by line
and plummet ; and abuses may have been com-
mitted under color of law. This, though not
justifiable, was, in view of the natural infirmity of
human dispositions, a consequence easily foreseen ;
and it resulted from the provocation and resistance.
Although a defendant who justifies an as.sault b\'
pleading against his adversary son assault doiicsnc
(his own assault,) usually sets up for himself that
he thereupon softly laid hands on him, {Diollitcr
manus iniposuit,) yet a jury generally finds that
any laying on of hands not grossly in excess of
what would suffice for self-protection, is soft
enough to satisfy the conscience. The alia oioruiia.
462
CONSTITUTION ADOPTED. [Chap. XJV.
— the filling in or aggravation of the charges, —
in cases of border violence, is not usually regarded
as putting the offended — and in turn offending —
power in the wrong upon the main question.
But after the lapse of forty years, and the
growth of many friendly relations, it is not
unpleasant to remember that the only lives lost
were those of two horses, one on either side, one
— according to tradition — an Ohio steed slain by
General Stickney by mistake, and one lost in
some unknown way, for which the State of Mich-
igan paid Mr. Bailey. A sheriff's officer who was
stabbed by Two Stickney recovered in due course
of time ; and those who suffered other oriefs have
probably been sufficiently repaid by the serene
consciousness of having some personal adventures
to talk about.
The Constitutional Convention met at Detroit,
on the second Monday in May, 1835, and after
a patient session, submitted a Constitution for
the popular approval, which became operative by
adoption. An election was called for the first
Monday in October, 1835, to vote upon the Con-
stitution, and to elect a Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, Members of the State Legislature, and
a Representative in Congress, all to become enti-
tled to their offices in case the Constitution should
be ratified. The first Leofislature was to meet on
the first Monday of November.
This Constitution contained the usual bill of
> rights. Its only peculiar political feature was that
Cjiap. XIV.] CONSTITUTION 463
it gave the right of voting to all free adult white
male inhabitants who were residents of Michio-an
when the Constitution was signed, whether citizens
of the United States or not. This provision,
(which had no permanent importance, because all
voters would soon be otherwise qualified for
naturalization) was a difficulty urged with some
force in Congress, against the validity of the
Constitution, as interfering with the laws of the
United States. It is however to be borne in
mind that the Ordinance of 1787 did not require
voters to be citizens of the United States. At
that time each State had its own naturalization
laws; and two years' residence in the Territory
made one a voter, if otherwise qualified. The
action was, therefore, not entirely without prece-
dent, and was necessary to prevent the dis-
franchisement of those who had been allowed to
vote for the delegates who sat in the convention.
The Legislature consisted of a Senate and
House of Representatives, over whose acts the
Governor had a veto power corresponding to that
of the President. The Governor and Lieutenant
Governor were to be elected for terms of two
years, and the executive power was vested, as by
the United States Constitution, in the Governor,
or in the Governor and Senate. The courts
were to consist of one Supreme Court, and such
inferior courts as the Legislature should ordain ;
except that express provision was made for
courts of probate and justices of the peace.
464
CONSTITUTION. [Chap. XIV
Cabinet officers, and all other State officers, were
to be appointed by the Governor and Senate.
County and town officers, judicial as well as min-
isterial, were made elective. Education was to be
supported and encouraged, a university and
schools maintained, and the university and school
lands and their proceeds, and all other funds
obtained for similar purposes, were to be kept
inviolate. A superintendent of public instruction
was also provided for, — judges and State officers
were subject to impeachment for criminal and
corrupt conduct ; and judges could be removed
on the address of two thirds of each branch of
the Legislature. Other offices were subject to
removal as might be enacted. Slavery and invol-
untary servitude were forbidden except on con-
viction of crime. Internal improvements of all
kinds were to be encouraged by the State. Acts
of incorporation could only be passed by two
thirds of the Legislature.
This Constitution was very simple, and very
much better adapted to the changing necessities
of a growing State than the present one. While
it restrained such abuses as it was thought would
be most dangerous, it left to the Legislature
broad discretion. xA.ll who have had much to do with
studying and construing the two instruments, have
discovered that, while a few restrictions concerning
finances and internal improvements have been
found beneficial and necessary, — the bulk of the
special legislation contained in the Constitution of
Chap. XIV.] MASON SUPERSEDED. 465
1850 has been a hindrance, and not an advantage.
In a republican government it must be assumed
that the popular representatives in the Legislature
will act usually with honest motives and reasonable
prudence ; and while some things should not be
allowed under any circumstances, and others re-
quire checks, yet all which is subject to be changed
by time and changing events, ought in general to
be within legislative discretion.
The Constitution was ratified, and Stevens T.
Mason was elected Governor, and Edward Mundy
Lieutenant Governor. Isaac E. Crary was elected
Representative in Cong;-ess.
Before this election, in August, 1835, ^^^ Globe
contained the following : " Appointment by the
President. Charles Shaler, of Pennsylvania, to be
Secretary of the Territory of Michigan, vice
Stevens T. Mason, superseded." This was followed
by a long article in which it was set forth that
Mr. Mason had disregarded the President's wishes,
and the peaceful arrangements which had been
made concerning the territorial disputes with Ohio.
As Congress had not acted upon the subject, it
is questionable how far the President had any
right to interpose with his wishes. He had, how-
ever, the right to remove the Secretary. judge
Shaler would, no doubt, have been appointed
Governor, if that appointment could have been
made during the recess. He was personally an
excellent selection, but he did not covet the office
under existing circumstances. It was Judge
30
466 SECRETARY HORNER. [Chap. XIV.
Shaler, — then a young man, who volunteered to
carry from Cleveland to General Hull the news
of the declaration of war ; which he did with enter-
prise and rapidity, through difficulties ; and, having
overtaken the army between the Maumee and
the Raisin, he was compelled to remain in Detroit
until the surrender. He was a gentleman who
would have commanded respect and esteem from
the people, whatever they might have thought of
his authority ; but he declined the appointment.
On the 15th of September, the official journal
contained, with some editorial answers to eastern
newspaper criticisms on the course of the Presi-
dent, the following appointment. " John S. Horner,
of Virginia, Secretary of the Territory of Michi-
gan, Charles Shaler having declined the appoint-
ment. We learn that Mr. Horner has accepted
the above mentioned appointment, and that he is
now on his way to Detroit." On the i6th of
September, the Cleveland Whig, announcing that
Mr. Horner had that morning left for Detroit,
adds that it is prepared to hear that the people
of Michigan utterly contemn the authority of the
new Governor, so far as his policy may differ
essentially from that pursued by Mr. Mason.
Mr. Horner arrived in Michigan when troubles
on the frontier had temporarily revived, and just
after the troops had been sent down for the last
time to Toledo. The elections were to come off
in a fortnight, and in about six weeks the State
government would be organized. He interfered
Chap. XIV.j SECRETARV HORNER'S WELCOME. 467
with what had been done in the courts, by par-
doning everybody but Two Stickney. He had
come out with distinct notions that he had a
mission to perform, but found no one who would
co-operate with him. It is beHeved that a very
upright and estimable gendeman of the bar
recognized him officially so far as to accept a
commission of notary public. But his executive
labors were very solitary, and the people began
to show signs of disapprobadon. On the 12th
of July, 1835, he addressed a meedng at the
Detroit City Hall, giving his views and intentions
at length, and apparendy with some degree of
self-asserdon. After he had concluded his speech,
the meedng organized, and several resoludons
were adopted, among which was the following:
(Jacob M. Howard, who in those days was
lieutenant in the Detroit City Guards, and in that
capacity had gone to Toledo armed and equipped
with sword and pistols, was already known to
fame as a man of powerful intellect and strong
convictions; and from the style and tone of this
resoludon, it would not be hazarding much to
conjecture that ''the voice was Jacob's voice.")
" Resolved, that if our present Secretary of the
Territory should find it beyond his control, either
from the nature of his instrucdons, his feelings of
tenderness towards those who had for a lon^
period of dme set at defiance as well the laws o^^f
the Territory as those of the United States, or
any feelings of delicacy entertained towards the
468
SECRETARY HORNER'S MISADVENTURES. [Chap. XIV.
executive of a neighboring State, who has in vain
endeavored to take a forcible possession of a part
of our territory, to enable him to properly carry
into effect the existing laws of this Territory, it is
to be hoped he will relinquish the duties of his
office, and return to the land of his nativity."
Mr. Horner was a gentleman of excellent
character, and not wanting in ability. But he
magnified his office, under the favor and encourage-
ment of General Jackson, who had found the place
was not much sought after ; and the Secretary
was rather more peremptory and assuming than
the people were accustomed to hnd their public
officers, and more dictatorial than they were dis-
posed to submit to. The result was that neither
judiciary nor ministerial officers paid any respect
to him, — he met with very little private civility
or attention, — and in some instances he was
treated with active discourtesy, which sometimes
took a form which was not generally approved.
In Ypsilanti a disorderly concourse pelted the
windows of his tavern lodgings, so that he re-
sorted to a safe place to sleep on the floor ; and
it is said that the landlord charged in his bill
the damages caused by the lapiclation. It was
generally thought, however, that until the State
became organized, his position should secure him
against insults not provoked by adequate cause ;
and while he did not as Secretary receive the
friendly civilities which his private character would
have secured to him as a private citizen, he was
Chap. XIV.] ELECTION OF SENATORS. 469
not Otherwise molested. After the State officers
assumed their functions, General Jackson directed
him not to recognize them. The result of this
was that he soon found it pleasant to remove to
that part of the former Territory of Michigan
over which no State government had been
asserted. He settled in Wisconsin, where he has
always been respected for his personal worth
and many virtues. It is much to be regretted
that so worthy a gentleman was put into a false
position, which exposed him to many difficulties,
and some indignities.
The Legislature met on the first Monday of
November, 1835. ^^ the loth of November, a
rule was adopted for the election of Senators,
providing for a separate election by the two
houses, and in case of disagreement, for an elec-
tion in joint convention. Lucius Lyon was elected
unanimously in each house. Major John Biddle
received a majority of four in the Senate, and
John Norvell a majority of seven in the House.
Mr. Norvell was thereupon elected on joint
ballot, and he and Mr. Lyon were the first
Senators of the new State. George W. Jones,
residing In Wisconsin, was elected Territorial
Delegate, — the Territory of Michigan extending
beyond the State, and therefore continuing.
The Constitution provided for the continuance
of Territorial officers until superseded. The or-
ganization of State courts was postponed until
July, 1836, as the Territorial judges were entirely
470 MICHIGAN KEPT OUT OF THE UNION. [Chap. XIV.
satisfactory, and therefore time was desirable to
mature a judicial system. After a short session
the Legislature adjourned until January, hoping
that by that time the State would be admitted.
The admission, however, met with violent
opposition. The principal reasons arose out of
the slavery question. The States interested in
the southern boundary of Michigan, which the
constitutional convention had re-asserted by resolu-
tion, opposed it on that ground, although the
matter would by the admission into the Union
have become subject to settlement in the United
States Supreme Court; where Michigan had desired
to take it, and had passed resolutions to that
end, to have a speedy suit to settle the boundaries.
Arkansas had been taking preliminary steps for
admission, and it was known there might be some
objections to it on account of extreme provisions
for the protection of slavery, which it was expected
would be inserted, and which were inserted, in its
constitution. There was a determination in each
extreme of the Union not to allow one State to
come in without the admission of the other as a
counterpoise. As some of the reasons acted upon
were not such as it would seem quite desirable
to set up openly, various pretexts and grounds
were advanced, — some no doubt from conviction —
others with as little doubt for effect. A primary
difficulty raised against both States, was that
Congress had not authorized the holding of con-
stitutional conventions. This was not true in re-
Cha^. XIV.] DEBATES IN CONGRESS. 471
gard to Michigan ;— for the Ordinance of 1787,
reasserted when the Territory was organized,
provided expressly for the formation of a State
as soon as the free population reached sixty
thousand. The application for Arkansas was made
in February, 1836; and thereafter it was for some
time, in reality, ^ contest on the slavery question,
while in form it was mainly a discussion of the
right to call conventions without the previous assent
of Congress. But so far as Michigan was con-
cerned, political reasons of a pressing, if not very
fair, character, rendered it an object to conciliate
the neighboring States of Ohio, Indiana and
Illinois, in view of an approaching Presidential
election. Some members were also impressed
with a notion that, although Michigan had explicidy
desired to seek a judicial determination of her
boundaries, there was danger of bloodshed from
Illinois, and possibly elsewhere, unless Congress
mterfered. Committees reported in favor of giving
Ohio the line she asked, and of confirmino- the-
boundaries possessed by Indiana and Illinois;
while, to prevent future litigation concerning the
binding character of the compact of 1787, they
proposed to compel Michigan to wait for admis-
sion until she conceded those boundaries.
Colonel Benton, in his "Thirty Years' View,"
— while passing over the boundary question as
one which, when he wrote, had ceased to be im-
portant, — narrates very fully the course of the
contest in 1835-6 over the admission of the two
I
472 CONDITIONS IMPOSED. [Chap. XIV.
States. The debates were unprecedented for ob-
stinacy,— the last session in committee having con-
tinued twenty-five hours, and the real purposes
of the contestants not having been plainly avowed.
There was not only a desire to keep off the final
vote, but a contest of priority between the bills ;
and this grew chiefly out of the slavery dispute.
The Michigan bill got the preference, and was
passed first by a large vote ; and the vote on the
admission of Arkansas was nearly the same. The
opposition on the final vote in each case was in-
dependent of party ; and the contest throughout
was on other than party grounds.
The acts for the admission of both States were
thus passed and signed together, on the 15th of
June, 1836. But they were left in very different
positions. Arkansas was received into the Union at
once and unconditionally. Michigan w^as not to be
received except with the southern boundary claimed
by Indiana and desired by Ohio. The Upper Pen-
insula east of Montreal River, and the American
part of Lake Superior from that point to the
northwestern national boundary line, were thrown
in as a sort of compensation for the land taken
off at the south. Until the new boundary line was
adopted by a convention of delegates elected for
that purpose, by the people of Michigan, she was
not to be admitted at all.
There was much ingenuity in the scheme
devised to secure this consent. It was known
that the people of the State were largely in
Chap. XIV.] MOTIVES FOR ADMISSION. 473
favor of admission, and equally sure that they
were unanimously opposed to any boundary con-
cessions until the right received judicial determin-
ation. If admitted, it was certain the electoral
vote would be cast for Mr. \^an Buren. The act
expressly recognized the election of United States
Senators and Representative as valid, and the
prevailing — though not unanimous — view was that
under the Ordinance the Territory had become a
State, but a State awaiting admission. Wisconsin
was created a separate Territory from and after
July 4th, 1836. Michigan had meanwhile organ-
ized Its own judiciary, to go Into office July ist,
1836. The Senators and Representative were of
course desirous of entering upon their duties, and
the ingenious theory had been propounded that
the assent of a convention thus obtained would
be void as a violation of the State Constitution,
which had located all the powers of government,
and had not recognized any such body as a con-
vention. But as Congress had to determine on
the assent as a political question, and the ques-
tion of admission was not within the power of
the people, this theory was not regarded as ten-
able for any practical purpose, whether technically
correct or not.
The popular feeling was at once aroused, and
hostile. An effort was now made to convert the
proposals into a party question, which succeeded
partially, but not completely. There had been no
divisions of parties before on any of these ques-
4 74 PUBLIC SENTIMENT. [Chap. XIV.
tions, although the partisan journals had been a
good deal at variance. The Governor called an ex-
tra session of the Legislature, to provide for a
convention, and it met on the iith of July. A
public dinner had taken place in Detroit on the
4th, at which many speeches and volunteer toasts
were given by leading politicians of both parties,
and they were equally earnest in their expressions
of disgust. The Governor's message was a very
able and fair document, in which he submitted the
subject as one which must after all be decided on
as one of policy; and while not disposed to ac-
quiesce, if there was any likelihood of a better de-
cision in the future, he thought it might perhaps
be found inevitable. The Free Press — the orphan
of the Democratic party — on the same day indi-
cated less disposition than the Governor to make
the concession. On the first of July, 1836, the
provisions for district courts and other United
States offices, which are usually passed when
States are admitted, and which had been included
in the body of the act admitting Arkansas, were
enacted separately; but with a proviso that this
act should " not take effect until the State of Mich-
igan shall be admitted into the Union according to
the provisions of the act e^ititled 'An Act to establish
the northern boundary of the State of Ohio, and to
provide for the admission of the State of Michigan
into the Union on certain conditio7isl " It should
have been remarked before, that this had fixed the
Ohio, Indiana and Michigan boundaries positively
Chap. XIV.] CONDITIONS REJECTED. 476
and unconditionally, the conditions only applying
to the admission of Michigan, which was made a
subordinate heading of the bill. Congress ad-
journed on the 4th of July. Under the settled
rules of construction, the act of the ist of July was
a dead letter until the admission of the State ; and
no appointments could be made under it until
then. But before the Senate adjourned, the Pres-
ident nominated, and the Senate confirmed, Ross
Wilkins as District Judge, Daniel Goodwin as Dis-
trict Attorney, and Conrad Ten Eyck as Marshal,
with the proviso that their commissions should not
issue until the admission of the State into the
Union. As a judge when once appointed cannot
be removed except by impeachment, this would
have raised a very awkward question, if the con-
sent of Michigan had been postponed into another
administration ; and the validity of such an ap-
pointment made before there was any law in force
to authorize it might have been contested.
The Legislature directed an election for a
convention, to meet in Ann Arbor, on the 4th
Monday of September. It became plain to every
one before the election day arrived, that the
members of this convention would reject the con-
ditions. The convention refused to consent to
purchasing admission on those terms.
An attempt was now made to unite the Dem-
ocratic party, in favor of accepting the conditions,
with the view of taking such measures as might
then be ventured on. The Washino^ton corres-
476
PERSUASIVES. [Chap. XIV.
pendents figured up the share which Michigan
would have in the dividends of surphis revenue,
and the five per cent, on the proceeds of pubh'c
lands, as amounting in all to more than $450,000,
all of which — the President found occasion to
intimate — would be lost to Michioran if not
admitted on the first of January, 1837. — (This
like most other solemn extra-official utterances
of men in authority, was not correct.) Presiden-
tial electors were to be chosen in November,
under an act of the State Legislature ; and their
election also would be futile without admission.
And last — though not least — various gentlemen
willing to bear official responsibilities would be
disappointed. As the anonymous Washington
assurances concerning the financial loss by delay
appear to have been regarded as of doubtful
origin, an official letter was drawn from Mr.
Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, stating
that the money could not be paid to Michigan
before her admission, but not making the first
of January or any other day the limit. Informa-
tion was also obtained from Mr. Schoolcraft,
indicating the value of the I'pper Peninsula.
On the 29th of October, 1836, a Democratic
convention of Wayne County expressed a desire
for another convention, and this was followed by
a similar meeting in Washtenaw. The Governor,
in reply to a request, stated there was no time
for an extra session of the Legislature, and said
he had no authority to call a convention ; but he
Chap. XIV. J MICHIGAN ADMITTED. 477
referred to the revolutionary proceedings in riie
early history of the United States as quite irregu-
lar, and intimated that a popular convention mio-ht
be recognized at Washington. Thereupon, in
pursuance of the Wayne County action, David C.
McKinstry, Ross Wilkins, Marshal J. Bacon, John
McDonell, and Charles W. Whipple, called a con-
vention to be held at Ann Arbor on the 14th of
December, and recommended that their action be
ratified by the next Legislature. Elections were
held, from which many of the people absented
themselves because not lawfully held, and the con-
vention met, (familiarly known as the " Frost-bitten
Convention") made up entirely of delegates favor:
able to admission. They at once, and without
ceremony, gave their assent to the conditions, and
forwarded their action to Washington. The
President laid the case before Congress, and it
gave rise to much debate. The validity of the
convention was denied, and the matter was con-
siderably delayed. There was a general disposi-
tion to admit the State, but not to recognize the
irregular action ; and a preamble reciting consent
to have been given was strenuously objected to.
The bill was finally passed, with a preamble which
recited that consent had been given by a con-
vention of delegates, '' elected by the people of
the State for the sole purpose of giving their
assent;" and Michigan was admitted on the 26th
of January, 1837.
478 ACQUIESCENCE. [Chap. XIV, .
It would be very difficult to maintain the
legality of this convention, on any principle which
would not lead to the subversion of all constitu-
tional government But Congress acted upon it;
and the question was one political and not judi-
cial, on which their action was final. It is
probable, also, that in the view that no better
terms were likely to be made for some years, if
at all, the measure would, upon a second sub-
mission, have been ratified by a large majority of
the people. When the struggle was over, the
result was acquiesced in ; and the best was made
of what was deemed a bad bargain. An attempt
to have the electoral vote of Michigan declared
valid failed. All that could be done for it was
to ,allow the fact to appear that it had been cast
for Mr. Van Buren. This was permitted on the
ground that it would not change the result ;
and its regularity was left open. Colonel Richard
M. Johnson was elected Vice President by the
Senate, for lack of an electoral majority. This
election took place after the State was admitted ;
and the Senators, Mr. Norvell and Mr. Lyon,
had the opportunity of giving him their votes.
The State was recognized, when admitted, as
having existed as such since November, 1835, when
the Senators and Representatives, Governor and
Legislature, came into office ; and such has been
the uniform ruling of all departments. The last
act of the Territorial Judges, on the first day of
July, 1836, — three days before the Territory of
Chap. XIV. 1 CO-EXISTENCE OF STATE AND TERRITORY. 479
Michigan lost its remaining jurisdiction by the or-
ganization of Wisconsin, — was in their capacity as
a land board. They conveyed a lot of land in
Detroit to the Detroit Young Men's Society, — a
corporation created by the State some months
before. This deed was held valid, on the ground
that the Territory survived until July 4th, although
a part of its domain had been severed and trans-
formed into a State.
Henceforth the affairs of Michigan were within
her own control. The motto of the Territory had
been Tandem fit Stir cuius arbor (the sprout at
length becomes a tree.) This simple and grace-
ful sentiment, with the device expressing it, looked
at the future and was now accomplished. The
conglomeration of mottoes and devices on the
State seal, which remind one of the character in
Shakspeare who had been at a feast of languages
and stolen the scraps, is devoid enough of mean-
ing to give a wide range to the imagination.
But, in spite of its heraldic confusion, the State
has suffered no damage from it ; and her great
seal, though not attractive as a work of art, can
certify a very honorable history.
CHAPTER XV.
MICHIGAN UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OE 1 835.
The new State had, at the time of its admis-
sion, become fairly settled down to the manage-
ment of home affairs. The Supreme Court was
organized by the appointment of William A.
Fletcher as chief justice, and George Morell and
Epaphroditus Ransom associate justices. Chief
Justice Fletcher had previously been selected to
codify and digest the statutes, and was busy with
his work. A court of chancery was created, and
Elon Farnsworth was appointed chancellor. This
court, under his presidency, acquired an enviable
reputation for the justice and soundness of its
decisions, and his opinions are plain and lucid
statements of correct principles. He was suc-
ceeded, on his resignation in 1842, by Randolph
Manning, who was also an able chancellor, and
filled with credit several political as well as legal
offices, dying in August, 1864, while holding
the position of judge of the Supreme Court. The
Court of Chancery was abolished by the Revised
Statutes of 1846, and the jurisdiction vested in the
circuit courts.
Chai'. XV. J UNIVERSITY. 481
John D. P^ierce of Marshall was the hrst Super-
intendent of Public Instruction. He was very
active in preparing- the general scheme of educa-
tion by means of primary schools, and the Univer-
sity and its branches. The University was es-
tablished at x^nn Arbor. Its board of re<rents
consisted of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
Chancellor, and Judges of the Supreme Court, as
ex-officio members, and twelve regents appointed
by the Governor and Senate. The University
was ultimately to contain not only a literary
department, but colleges of medicine and law.
Branches of the University were established in
various places as preparatory academies. These
were at Detroit, Pontiac. Tecumseh, Niles, Kala-
mazoo, Monroe and White Pigeon. The branches
were first established, and in 1841 the hrst class
was opened in the University at Ann Arbor, the
first graduates leaving the college in 1845. The
medical college was opened in 1848, and the law
department in 1859.
The University and school lands previously
set apart by the United States for I'niversity and
school purposes were transferred in fee to the
State, to dispose of them as might seem proper,
and preserve the funds inviolate. The new
organization, being identical with the old, obtained
title to such property as had been directly vested
in that corporation, — including buildings and lands
in Detroit, and various other property. The
Superintendent of Public Instruction was put in
81
482 SCHOOLS. [Chap. XV.
charge of all the trust lands and funds, and
retained their management until they were sub-
sequently transferred to the State Land Office.
The Governor's message, in 1837, dwelt upon
the necessity of a full system of education, and
advocated what was also desired by Mr. Pierce,
the ultimate completion of a uniform system,
whereby any child could be educated completely,
from the earliest rudiments through all the
branches of useful and elegant knowledge. This
he urged as necessary to secure political and
civil equality. Although it took many years to
reach the desired end, it has been reached, and
in most of our towns the schools carry up their
pupils as far as they choose to go, and prepare
them, if they desire it, for pursuing their scholas-
tic work in the University, or elsewhere. Until
union and high schools were established, the
branches of the University had been the only
public academies under State authority. Now
there are not only multitudes of them, but they
are very generally free schools throughout. The
branches were not kept up very many years.
They received female scholars as well as male.
In addition to school lands, the United States
at various times gave to the State, for its own
purposes, lands for State buildings, salt springs,
and large grants to aid in public improvements.
Five per cent, of the proceeds of government
land sales was also given for internal improve-
ments. Five hundred thousand acres of internal
Chap. XV.] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 4 S3
improvement lands were asked for and siibse-
quendy granted. Michigan also became entitled
to a share of the surplus revenue of the United
States. These large possessions were anticipated,
and the hope of receiving them had, as already
seen, been one of the inducements to submit to
the unpleasant conditions imposed by Congress.
The Legislature of 1836, looking forward to
these accessions, had meditated on the magnificent
possibilities, and had, among other things, author-
ized the Governor to invite proposals from every
rail road company in the State for the transfer
of their roads and franchises. The charters were
numerous, but not very much had been done in
road-building. In 1837, as soon as admission
became certain, the young State launched out,
like an heir just emancipated, into the most
lavish display of her new freedom, and fancied
opulence.
Although these times are not very remote, the
present generation cannot perhaps, quite compre-
hend how people felt. There was as yet, no
railwav communication with the east. From
Albany to Schenectady and Utica, the road was
built very gradually. West of Utica the travel
was by stage or canal-boat. The Lake Erie
steamboats were the finest and largest boats in
America, and conveyed travellers with speed and
comfort. From Detroit to Chicago there was no
convenient land-passage, and all went by the
lakes. From Chicago westward there were no
484
RAILROADS. I Chap. XV.
railroads, and no travelling facilities beyond
natural roads. It was more than fifteen years
before any railroad crossed Canada. Telegraphs
were not put in use for many years. There
were no plank or gravel roads, and the best
turnpikes were almost impassable for several
months in each year.
The railroads themselves were imperfect, and
their ultimate perfection was not foreseen. Their
passenger cars were small vehicles, holding no
more than from eighteen to twenty-four passen-
gers, and not much, if any, heavier than the
large stage-coaches. The iron was flat bar-iron,
from half to three-fourths of an inch thick, spiked
on wooden sleepers which were lightly tied, and
on tracks not perfectly graded or heavily ballasted.
The locomotives weighed from two to six or
seven tons, and drew corresponding loads.
Great weight and high speed would have de-
stroyed the tracks. One of the dangers of
travel was from '' snake-heads," caused by the
loosening of the ends of the thin rails, which,
bending up, were caught between the wheels, and
driven through the bottom of the car, wounding
or impaling any one who sat over the point of
entrance. Instead of grading up or down steep
declivities, cars were passed over the incline by
counter weights of box-cars, loaded with stone,
which balanced them like window weights, and
made it easy to pass one up as the other went
down. As there were no long railways, there was
Chap. XV.] RAILROADS. 485
no freighting unless of light articles, except for
short distances. In a level country well supplied
with wood, the cost of building and ironing a
railroad was very trifling, and its rolling stock
was also cheap and scanty. The original capital
stock of the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad
Company, (the corporation which began the
Michigan Central Railroad) was a million and
a half of dollars. The entire cost of buildino- and
stocking the Central Railroad to Marshall, was
reckoned in 1846 as having been two millions
of dollars. In private hands it would probably
have been less ; and the capital stock of $1,500,000,
aided by the earnings, properly managed, would
have been adequate according to the plans first
devised, to build the road ; although the subse-
quent improvements in track and stock would
have made new arrangements necessary, if the
road had been built as slowly as was then
customary. Twenty miles a year was in those
days rapid railroad building.
It is not strange that with the experience of
such a rapid growth, the people of Michigan were
very sanguine. The times were what judge
Baldwin very apdy named them, " flush times,"
when money was turned out as fast as engravers
could make it, and nearly every, good engraving
passed current somewhere. Property was bought
and sold at fabulous prices. Land which could
be purchased by any one at government price
for a dollar and a quarter an acre, would sell as
486 SANGUINE EXPECTATIONS. [Chap. XV.
town lots on an engraved village or city plat, for
fifty times that price, with no reason in the
world for the advance.
The idea seemed current that the mere activ-
ity of immigration, and the enthusiastic visions of
the immigrants, actually created wealth. Usually a
large population means prosperity, because it has
grown up slowly, and improved the country and
accumulated savings for many years. But when
population from a mere handful grows up in ten
years to five or six times its original number,
there have been no savings ; and there is no pro-
gress beyond beginnings, where the outlay usually
exceeds the income. Of the settlers who came to
Michigan, most were of that intelligent and enter-
prising class that advance the material interest of
a region as fast as they can, and in the end
build up strong communities. But they were also
usuallv of the class whose wealth is in the future
and not in possession, and who do more borrow-
ing than lending. They were also very hopeful,
and selected their homes and lands with sagacity,
so far as fertility of soil and fitness for farming,
lumbering and milling, were concerned. But they
very often reckoned wildly, by overlooking difficul-
ties of access. The garden of Eden would not
pay for raising articles which could not be
marketed, and the completest mill or factory that
ever was built could not flourish without customers.
It was fortunate that the enterprising settlers
had correct notions concerning education. There
Chap. XV.] ADVANCED LEGISLATION. 487
never was in any country a more liberal and en-
lightened view of the value of g-enerous culture.
The early founders of Michigan were not only in-
telligent, but many of them were highly cultivated
and intellectual ; and through good and evil
fortunes, while they lost wealth and suffered pri-
vations, they adhered with dogged tenacity to the
system of schools, which had been planned liber-
ally, and has been the safeguard and glory of the
State. As prosperity has increased it has fallen
upon men who generally have known its relative
value, and there are few towns in the common-
wealth whose schools are not fully up in complete-
ness to the means of the people.
The first State legislation was chiefly directed
to the development of the resources of the country.
Roads were laid out in every direction, and placed
under local supervision, so that the people most
nearly interested might have means of preventing
neglect and dishonesty. Railroads were chartered
whenever asked for. The University and school
lands were put in market on long time. The
State prepared as soon as possible to enter upon
a general system of internal improvement, where-
by all parts of its jurisdiction would be made
readily accessible, and be brought within easy
reach of markets and business facilities.
One of the first and best schemes devised to
further the development of the State resources,
was the organization of a complete geological
survey. In February, 1837, an act was passed
488 GEOLOGICAI, SURVEY. [Chap. XV.
for the appointment of a State Geologist to con-
duct such a survey, and annual sums, increasing
from $3,000 the first year to |,i 2,000 the fourth,
were appropriated. Doctor Douglass Houghton
was selected to fill the office. He was already
known throughout the State for his thorough
qualities as a sagacious and close observer, a
laborious and patient student, and a man of
integrity, whose love ot science, and devotion to
its interests, had not impaired his cool-headed
shrewdness and habits of business. Short as was
the remainder ot his useful life, the best observa-
tions and discoveries in the fields which he tra-
versed have proved his accuracy and judgment,
.and have shown no course safer than to follow
his suggestions. Within the first year his views
had become so favorably accepted that, in 1838,
the survey was re-organized on a larger basis.
Three principal assistants were required to be
appointed by the Governor, on his nomination, to
wit, a zoologist, a botanist and a topographer ;
and four minor assistants to be nominated by the
Governor on the nomination of their chiefs, — two
for- the zoologist, one for the geologist, and one
for the botanist. Twelve thousand dollars a year
was appropriated for the service. Maps, reports,
and specimens were to be furnished to the State,
and as far as possible to the University. Dr.
Abram Sager was appointed zoologist, Dr. John
Wright botanist, and Sylvester W. Higgins topo-
grapher. Bela Hubbard and Columbus C. Doug-
Chap. XV.] (iEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
489
lass acted as assistant geologists, and Mr. George
H. Bull assistant botanist. vSeveral important
reports and conside ■'^^~\^ collections were made,
and valuable maps and drawings were prepp.recl
and some of them engraved. The general finan-
cial depression prevented any extensive work
after 1841, and in the careless management of
some of the State property, after Dr. Houghton's
death, all of his engravings, which were numerous
and very beautiful, and many of his collections
which had been left in the State offices before
their removal to Lansing, disappeared. Dr.
Houcrhton had before his death secured the ser-
vices of Mr. Beneworth, a wood-engraver, whose
marvellous skill had obtained him honorable tes-
timonials in Holland, Sweden and Germany, and
who executed some of those minute g^ems of
engraving which beautify Harper's Bible. This
artist had become desirous of seeing the New
World, and was disposed to set out for the un-
defined western regions of which he had very
vague notions, when Dr. Houghton found him in
New York, and being mutually interested, he was
induced to enter upon the work of engraving the
illustrations which would be needed for the final
report. The blocks were engraved and left with
uncut margins to prevent abrasion, and in this
condition deposited for safe keeping with one of
the State officers. Besides these, Mr. Higgins
had drawn carefully, on stone, a large number of
fossils and other specimens, and several maps
490 BANKING. [Chap. XV.
were enorraved. All have been lost. Their mon-
ey value was not less than many thousand
dollars. Their artistic as well as scientific value
cannot be reckoned.
Another scheme for the development of re-
sources was unlimited banking. To this the
Governor was not favorable, unless upon careful
security. But the ideas of banking were very
ill-adapted to such times. It has hardly become
an exact science yet, but those times furnished
some valuable, though costly experience. At that
era the nation was out of debt, and all the State
debts combined were less than some ambitious
cities now pile up in a twelvemonth. Banking
on stock security was unheard of. But banking-
had thus far been reasonably well conducted
generally. The favorite New York system then
was the " safety fund," by which each bank subject
to it contributed a small percentage of its capital
to a general fund, which was relied on to make
up such deficiencies as might arise when single
corporations were wound up. Large insolvencies
with no assets were not imaginable. In 1836,
the Michigan Legislature provided for a fund to
be made up of three per cent, on the capital of
every bank, payable in annual portions of one-
half of one per cent. Many banks were chartered,
and some of them came under this rule. But in
the large dealings with which this freely issued
paper had made men familiar, it was thought there
was not currency enough afloat, and specie was
Chap XV.] WILD CAT BANKING LAW. 491
rarely seen. One motive for forming new banks
was the desire to secure a share of the govern-
ment deposits, as well as the surplus revenue,
which had also been sometimes deposited by the
States, to be ready if required to be refunded,
this being one of the conditions of the distribution.
In 1837, a general banking law was passed, which
was supposed to contain better securities than any
other similar scheme, and included the safety fund
plan in addition. Any persons residing in a county
of the State, (including among them at least twelve
free-holders,) could organize banks of from $50,000
to $300,000 capital, and care was taken that at
least one-third of the stock should always belong
to county residents, in good faith and for their
own use ; and on executing the preliminaries and
paying in ^o per cent, in specie, they could pro-
ceed to business. Ten per cent, was payable on
the stock every six months, until all the capital
was paid in. Before beginning banking business,
bonds and mortgages, or the personal bonds of
resident free-holders, satisfactory to the County
Treasurer and County Clerk, were to be filed with
the Auditor General, to the full amount of the
circulation and indebtedness. Neither the circula-
tion nor the loans and discounts were to exceed
twice and a half the amount of the capital stock.
A rigid system of bank examiners and examina-
tions was provided, to prevent any banks, char-
tered or general, from committing frauds.
492 FkAUDtTLENT BANKINCi. [Chap. XV.
This statute was held invalid, because the Con-
stitution prohibited any corporations which had not
been approved by two-thirds of the Legislature.
But many banks were organized. The county
clerks and treasurers had as liberal ideas on the
value of lands and the solvency of free-holders as
could be desired ; and while in the older towns
some of these institutions were carried on as pru-
dently and honestly as any others, the general
tendency of most of the smaller, and some of the
larger, banks was towards reckless discounting
and wild speculation. Competent cashiers and
officers were rare. Men assumed to be bankers
who had no business knowledge, and could hardly
cast accounts. Many went into the business as
an easy method of swindling. The Bank Com-
missioners, who were compelled to travel without
the facilities of railroads and telegraphs, discovered
all manner of devices to deceive them as to assets.
Base metals were packed in coin boxes, and cov-
ered over with thin spreadings of coin ; and some-
times the same coin was kept in transit from bank
to bank through by-ways in advance of the Com-
missioners, until its familiar appearance, or a re-
trograde visitation, exposed the trick. Few and
evil were the days of this banking, and the history
of the system of wildcat banks would be humili-
ating but perhaps profitable reading now ; although
the sharpers and rascals of 1876 are undoubtedly
more adept in knavery than their ruder predeces-
sors, and would not be proud of such small
Chap. XV. J BAD INVESTMENTS. 493
swindling. The crash came as soon as the general
business panic began to spread through the Union ;
and within five years after the State was formed,
the financial ruin of its people was complete.
The best improved property in the best towns
shrunk to less than half, and sometimes less than
a fourth, of its previously estimated value, while
unimproved property not paid for bankrupted its
luckless mortgagor, and if paid for was often too
burdensome to support its quota of taxes.
But young States, like children, do not always
look beyond the year, and Michigan was no more
prudent than others. It allowed the school funds
to be lent out to private borrowers as well as to
banks and corporations, and made loans of its
owm bonds and money to various railroads and
other schemes. Railroad mortgages of the mod-
ern kind w^ere then unknown, and those early
loans would be regarded if made now, as safer
than the majority of advances made in these
days on such securities. They were generally
secured by private mortgages or guarantees, and
they were all on promising roads as first encum-
brances. Yet in most cases the State lost a large
percentage. The surplus revenue was lent to
banks on deposit, and most of this was repaid or
collected ultimatelv, but some of it after lone
waiting. Bounties were offered, and some loans
made, to encourao^e, among; other thincrs, the man-
ufacture of beet-sugar. This speculation failed,
but the State met no serious injury.
494 BOUNTIES AND REWARDS. [Chap. XV.
The bounties and loans to encourage new
branches of industry were not extravagant, and
were probably well invested, even where the
object did not succeed. Attention was drawn to
the difficulty as well as to the supposed merits
of the schemes, and it is a matter of congratula-
tion, partly due to this, that few large enterprises
have ever been abandoned as impracticable. The
early experiments prevented heavier subsequent
losses. Among other things, tried on a small
scale and abandoned, was silk-raising. There was
at one time an epidemic mania for raising the
niorus multicatdis, (a mulberry adapted to the
silk-worm,) and this State, while somewhat excited,
was not much hurt by it. A gift of ^3,000, in
1837, to the Reverend Martin Kundig, was an
investment more hopeful. It was given to that
excellent man in recognition of his faithful and
unwearied labors and outlays during the cholera
visitation. While it is the solitary private reward
or pension found in our history for philanthropic
services, it was creditable to giver and receiver.
Mr. Kundig is remembered by the older inhabit-
ants of Detroit as one of the few persons who
ever made a poor-house a charming place of
resort for visitors, entertained only by his pleas-
ant conversation and the sight of his well-kept
gardens ; and who, with strict economy, secured
to his unfortunate wards comfort and self-respect.
The necessity of internal communication led to
a measure which for many years kept down the
Chap. XV. J FIVE MILLION LOAN. 495
credit of the State, and crippled its resources,
thereby driving away some of its own citizens,
and effectually preventing the growth of its popu-
lation by increase from abroad.
In addition to some smaller debts, it was de-
termined to borrow five millions of dollars, to ex-
pend in various public works. It was expected
that by the aid of this sum, and such other dona-
tions as might be received from the United States,
three trunk railroads could be built across the
State, two canals made, several rivers improved
so as to be navigable, some small railroads
finished, and a ship-canal opened round the Falls
of the St. Mary's River.
A Board of Commissioners of Internal Improve-
ment had already been appointed. On the 20th
of March, 1837, this Board was directed to survey
three railroad routes across the peninsula. The
first was the Michio^an Central, from Detroit to
the mouth of the St. Joseph River in Berrien
County. The second was the Southern, to run
from the mouth of the River Raisin, through
Monroe, to New Buffalo. The third was the
Northern, to run from Palmer or Port Huron to
Grand Rapids or Grand Haven. A purchase was
to be made of the Detroit and St. Joseph Rail-
road, which had gone partly through Washtenaw
County. Five hundred and fifty thousand dollars
was appropriated to these roads at once, four
hundred thousand for the Central, one hundred
thousand for the Southern, (both of which included
496 RAILROADS AND CANALS. [Chap. XV.
private railroads to be purchased,) and fifty thou-
sand for the Northern road. Twenty thousand
dollars was appropriated for surveys of a canal,
or combined canal and railway, from Mt. Clemens
to the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, a canal
from Saginaw River to Maple or Grand River,
and river surveys on the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo
and Grand Rivers, for slackwater navigation.
Seventy-five thousand dollars more was to be ex-
pended on some of these and other works.
Of these works it may be enough to say that
the Michigan Central was pushed by degrees as
far as Marshall, and built in good part from its
earnings, and the Southern was also extended
into Hillsdale County. Both of these were sold
in 1846, and the purchase extinguished a large
proportion of the State debt. The Northern Road
was graded beyond Lapeer, and its bed was con-
verted into a wagon-road, at the expense of a
large amount of internal improvement lands, which
paid a great price for a very little work. The
Clinton Canal was completed a few miles, and
rented for water power. Very little, if anything,
came of the other schemes.
On the 2ist of March, 1837, a law was passed
authorizing the Governor to negotiate for a loan
of fiv^ millions of dollars, at not more than five
and a half per cent, interest, and redeemable after
twenty-five years. At first it was required to be
payable in the United vStates, but afterwards
allowed to bear six per cent., and be made pay-
Chap. XV. J CONDITION OF EXCHANGES.
497
able in Europe, in pounds sterling at four dollars
and forty-four cents, or in Holland guilders at
forty cents.
The Cashier of the Michigan State Bank (at
this time John Norton, Jr.) was Fiscal Agent of
the State, having no large discretionary powers,
but keeping the State deposits in his bank. At
this time demand exchange on New York was
purchased by the banks in large sums at six per
cent, premium, and sold at much higher rates, —
from ten per cent, upward in some cases. Eastern
bills had a fictitious reputation, and were re-
garded— orood and bad alike — as better than home
currency. Why this estimate was put on them
w^as not manifest except that persons sometimes
bought them as cheaper than exchange, to use in
eastern purchases. Michigan money was of differ-
ent values. City money was at par, — country
money in a few cases was at a slight discount, but
usually at a considerable one. A difference was
made between '* chartered" banks and ordinary
"safety fund" which were chiefly "wild-cat," although
the difference was purely imaginary, or quite as
often as not in favor of the wild-cats. No worse
frauds were ever detected in banking than among
several of the chartered banks.
In this condition of affairs, the credit of the
State was hrst tried in the money market, on
what was then a reasonably large scale. There
is no doubt Michigan bonds could have been
placed in Europe, and probably in the United
32
498 DISPOSAL OF STATE BONDS [Chap. XV.
States, by proper management. If they had been
honestly dealt with, the State would probably have
had no serious trouble. But Governor Mason,
who was personally honest himself, was a novice
in finance, and he fell into the hands of the
Philistines.
By some unfortunate mischance he was induced
to select the Morris Canal and Banking Company
, of New Jersey to aid him in negotiating the bonds.
How this was brought about has not been made
public. He was unquestionably misled by his own
inexperience into accepting strange counsels. He
made more than one agreement, and each one was
worse than the last. On the first day of June,
1838, an agreement was made substantially as fol-
lows, except that some of its provisions are am-
biguous and not very intelligible. The Governor
agreed to make the Morris Canal and Banking
Company agents irrevocable, to negotiate the
^5,000,000 loan, and ^200,000 of other bonds after-
wards authorized for special purposes. The bonds
were to be sold in Europe or America, at such
times and in such quantities as- the agents deter-
mined, for which sales they were to have two and
a half per cent, commission, and in addition half
of any premiums received, up to five per cent.,
and all beyond that ; and were to bear all expen-
ses, and guarantee that the proceeds deposited in
New York, added to their commission, should not
be less than their par value. They were also to
pay the amount of the bonds, less their commis-
Chap. XV.] TERMS OF CONTRACTS. 499
sions, in instalments, whether sold or not, but
were always entitled to have in hand a million of
bonds in excess of payments already advanced, if
so much remained undisposed of. They were also
at liberty, if they chose, on thirty days' notice, to
take and pay for the bonds at par, less their
commissions. The contract as to the time when
in that case they should pay for them is very blind.
$1,300,000 of the bonds were delivered over at
once, and they were to pay for these $250,000 in
cash, and $1,050,000 when called for, on order, less
their commissions. The remainder of the entire
loan was payable in quarterly instalments of
$250,000 each, (or a million a year,) beginning
July 1st, 1839, thus giving them about five years
in all to close up the matter. A difficulty after-
wards arose concerning the interest account, on
which the contract is silent.
On the fourth of June, 1838, — (three days
after the contract,) — Governor Mason, without
any legal authority, made a further arrangement.
The $1,300,000, instead of being paid in cash, he
allowed to be put to his credit on the books of
the Company, as a payment in full, and agreed
to take the whole of it in the bank bills of the
Company, and disburse them for State purposes,
— receiving $250,000 on the first of August, and
$100,000 a month thereafter. This gave the bank
the benefit of a distant circulation for over a mil-
lion and a quarter of bills, and the interest in ad-
dition on this whole sum for an average of about
500 THE AGENTS OBTAIN ALL THE BONDS. [Chap. XV.
six months. On the 14th of July, Mr. Norton, the
Fiscal Agent, in equal absence of authority, made
a still further arrangement. Instead of paying over
their bills, they were to accept drafts for the same
amounts, payable ninety days after each of these
instalments of bills was to have been furnished ;
and these ninety day drafts were taken as cash.
As this transaction was between bankers of ex-
perience, it needs no comment. It gave them
directly ninety-three days of additional interest on
the whole $1,300,000.
The next phase in this transaction was during
the same year, in November, when the whole
bonds were turned over to these honest agents,
upon the sole corporate obligation of the Morris
Canal and Banking Company, to pay one-fourth
of the instalments originally provided for, and
that of the United States Bank, (which was no
longer a National bank, but a State corporation
of the same name,) for the other three-fourths, —
keeping a proper interest account. In this way
the whole amount of the bonds got into the hands
of the agents, without any security whatever. The
Morris Canal Company made default in the pay-
ments early in 1840. The State Treasurer, Robert
Stuart, found that they had got rid of their share
of the bonds in some way, and was glad to get
securities for about two-thirds of their proportion
of the unpaid and future instalments, but was hope-
ful that they would be able to pay in full, with
some delay. They were allowed an extension of
Chap. XV. J DEFAULT OF AGENTS. STATE SCRIP. 501
four years, until January, 1844, but long before
this they failed entirely. Their assets given as
security were of a strangely miscellaneous charac-
ter, and showed a very reckless course of banking.
Specie payments were now generally suspended,
and the State found difficulty in raising money for
its current expenses. The United States Bank
also made default in a part of the April instal-
ment in 1840. The Treasurer managed to get
more or less money out of this bank that year,
and the delay of that corporation was also re-
garded as temporary. In April, 1841, an issue of
State scrip was provided for, in the form of bank-
bills, and receivable for State dues, to anticipate
the next four instalments coming from the loan.
But they never came. The scrip depreciated con-
siderably, but, being receivable for taxes, was
about the only available currency to be had ; and
salaries and all other general liabilities were paid
in it, and accepted as the only thing to be ob-
tained. The ^Treasurer endeavored to get back
the bonds for which nothing had been received,
but they had been hypothecated by the failing
banks and were beyond reach. As they were all
where the equities still bound them, their further
negotiation was checked by proper notices. The
State arranged to pay on each what had been
advanced upon it, and in the subsequent sale of
the railroads thes/^ part paid bonds were received
— remitting most of the damages to which the
State was entitled by reason of the protest and
502 DISASTROUS LOSSES. [Chap. XV.
default, and the accounts were substantially closed.
The loss to the State In interest caused by the
peculiar arrangements made after the first con-
tract, even if there had been no default, was
f I 21,881.88 without reckoning the retention of the
whole 2i/< per cent, commissions in advance.
The damage by reason of losses in work sus-
pended, and improvements rendered valueless, is
not to be estimated. It brought the State to the
verge of ruin, and its evil consequences lasted for
many years.
It became necessary to pay internal improve-
ment expenses with a different sort of paper from
State scrip. Parties contracted to receive their
pay in internal improvement warrants, payable in
land, and not in money. Land being then a drug,
and not in demand, these warrants ran down to
forty cents on the dollar, and the contract prices
were fixed accordingly. This soon deprived the
State of many of the best lands, at a great sacri-
fice. No further labor was done Except on such
works as were of immediate necessity and useful-
ness, and the unfinished works were for the most
part permanently abandoned, and their cost entire-
ly wasted.
But the construction of one of the most im-
portant works for the development of the country
was prevented by a very gross outrage. One of
the first measures of internal improvement adopted
was the construction of a ship canal round the
Falls of the St. Mary's River. An appropriation
Chap. XV.] SAULT CANAL STOPPED. 50o
was made, in March, 1837, ^^r the survey and
commencement of the work, as soon as the Board
of Internal Improvement approved the plans.
Surveys and plans were made, and publicly known,
and contracts were entered into in accordance with
them, and the contractors proceeded to purchase
materials and make all their preparations in the
latter part of 1838 and beginning of 1839, ^^ go
on with their work on the opening of navigation.
The State made them an advance in the early
spring. On the 9th of May, they arrived on the
ground, and, as they were preparing to proceed,
they were served by a subaltern assistant quarter
master of the United States with a letter of the
War Department, addressed to himself, whereby
it was directed that no interference must be al-
lowed with the improvements made by the United
vStates at that post, " among which the mill-race
is regarded as one of the greatest importance ;"
and he was notified to " apprise the contractor
that he cannot be allowed, in the execution of his
contract, to interfere, in any way, with that work."
Accordingly the officer, on the day of serving
this letter, gave the contractor notice that it would
be his duty " to interfere with any work on the
projected canal, that might injure the United
States mill-race near that post." This notice was
served on the j 2th of May. The letter was dated
on the 6th of March, 1839, more than two months
before, and was an answer to one received b}^ the
War Department, written by this same officer in
504 ARBITRARY MILITARY INTERFERENCE. [Chap. XV
January, 1839, containing information how the
canal was laid out and to be constructed. No
communication was made during this interval to
the State of Michigan, nor to any one else. This
mill-race, as shown to the Legislative Committee,
was not on any ground that had been set apart
as a military reserve, but the Town of Sault Ste.
Marie intervened between the mill-race and the
fort, which was a long way off. The mill is said
by the committee who examined into the matter
to have been dilapidated and useless, and General
Whiting, the chief quarter master of this depart-
ment, so stated. The State had not ceded juris-
diction over any part of the land in question.
The contractors informed the officer who
notified them, '' that they were bound by the State
of Michigan, to excavate the canal within the
lines 'run and laid out by the chief engineer, and
that they should proceed with the work, and
could not allow water to flow through the race,
where the canal crosses the same, as it would
entirely frustrate the object that the State of
Michigan had in view." The commanding officer
at the fort. Captain Johnson, responded that, under
his instructions, " the proposed work could not go
on peaceably ;" and that he was bound to carry
them out to their full extent. The contractors
went upon the ground, nevertheless, and began
work, when they were met, not by the mandate
or injunction of the civil authority, but by. Captain
Johnson in his military capacity at the head of a
Chap. XV.J STATE PROTEST. ' 505
company of soldiers. They had their implements
taken from them by actual violence, and the party
was driven off the ground at the point of the
bayonet.
This unjustifiable outrage put an end to the
work, and postponed the building of the canal
nearly fifteen years. It was brought before the
Legislature repeatedly by the State Executive, and
in 1840, when it was first presented, with a very
indignant message, by Governor Woodbridge, and
the facts fully investigated and reported on by a
committee, the Legislature, by a joint resolution,
declared their opinion that the course of the gov-
ernment authorities was " unwarranted by the
Constitution of the United States, and a violation
of the rights and sovereignty of the State of
Michigan," and that as an act of justice, the gov-
ernment was bound to repay the State its advan-
ces and damages ; and directed that the State del-
egation in Congress be requested to take proper
action in the premises. In 1841, Governor Wood-
bridge felt it his duty " again to ask the attention
of the Legislature to the unauthorized and forcible
interruption, by the troops of the United States,
of the public works of the State, during the year
before the last, at the Sault de Ste. Marie. The
pecuniary loss to the State, resulting from that
reprehensible interposition, remains unsatisfied, and
the injury to its honor unatoned for."
The bitter political contests which at this time
absorbed the attention of the American people
506 REPREHENSIBLE ACTION. [Chap. XV.
may have rendered diis affair less important in
the sight of Congress than it was in fact. The
use of mihtary force, as a substitute for civil re-
medies, is intolerable in any country governed by
law. The official insolence which paid no attention
to notifying the State authorities, and gave them
no opportunity to delay their appropriations, or
deal with the matter in a legal way and obtain a
removal of the difficulties, was offensive and dis-
graceful. The damage to the State was very
serious. The Upper Peninsula had been forced
upon her acceptance, and the duty was at once as-
sumed of providing for making it available. The
explorations had already shown the immediate
value of its fisheries, and the ultimate value of its
great deposits of metal. The expense of trans-
shipment caused by the land portage at the Sault,
could not be borne without multiplying the cost of
all work done in that region, and adequate ship-
ping could not be built on Lake Superior without
better means of getting there, and assurance of
immediate remunerative employment. No large
vessels have to this day been built there, and the
first, and for many years the only, vessels of any
magnitude that were used upon that lake, were
carried across the portage by the expensive and
perilous process of dragging them overland.
The Reserve at the Sault, even within the
limits which were adopted for military purposes,
has been a source of trouble in the way of im-
provements. The carelessness of our legislation,
Chap. XV.] NEEDLESS GOVERNMENT RESERVES. 507
without proper investigation, not only in allowing
government reserves to be created, for purposes
where exclusive jurisdiction is entirely unnecessary
for the uses of the United States, but in permit-
ting them to be much larger than is necessary, is
very much to be regretted. The propriety of
giving the government exclusive jurisdiction over
forts and navy-yards, and other similar places,
where no one has any right to go except on
public business, is evident enough. But places
which it is not dangerous to the United States to
leave open to access at all times, ought never to
be removed from State jurisdiction. No difficulty
ever arose from having courts, or custom houses,
or post offices, or roads, or canals, continued on
ground not subject to the exclusive jurisdictiction
of Congress. The United States can lawfully
legislate to punish interferences with any of its
institutions or property, wherever they may be.
But the consequences of exclusive jurisdiction are
very serious. Residents may lose their rights of
voting and citizenship, — they may cause difficulty
in determining the validity of wills and contracts,
in the rights of husband and wife in their per-
sonal property, and in the laws of distribution, so
that if different reserves in the same State are
created at different times, there may be as many
different codes of law applicable. Many crimes
are punished differently by the United States and
State laws, and some acts which are penal under
one system are exempt from penalty under the
508 LEGISLATIVE EXPRESSION ON RESERVES. [Chap. XV.
Other. Instances have already arisen in more
than one State exempHfying these evils. The
dangers to public peace, where offences commit-
ted on one side of a street are governed by dif-
ferent laws from those committed across the way,
or on adjacent lands, are not theoretical nor small.
The disfranchisement of the Asylum in Ohio, and
its results, exemplified what every one who has
examined the subject has found strong reason to
deprecate. There is no higher act of sovereignty
than that which transfers sovereignty, and yet it
is easier under our laws (assuming them to be
valid) to cede away State jurisdiction, than to lay
out a highway, and it is done with much less
ceremony, and for purposes in no way requiring
it. In 1855 the Legislature passed a joint resolu-
tion, complaining of the needless extent of the
reserves, and urging their correction ; but subse-
quent legislation seems to have lost sight of this
mischief
The general discontent with the management
of the State finances led to political changes.
The singular character of the loan negotiation,
and its more singular sequels, led to serious
charges against the integrity of the whole trans-
action ; and the loss of some moneys never fully
explained did not tend to remove the public dis-
conient. The (lovernor incurred heavy censure
for his imprudence and credulity. The charges
of personal dishonesty were not generally accepted
as just. When he died, in 1843, both houses of
C„Ar. XV. I RF.VISED STATUTES.
500
the Legislature passed resolutions of respect to
his memory, and sympathy for his relatives, and
In this they followed the general sentiment. His
deficiencies were those of inexperience, and were
not mean or selfish. His abilities were much
beyond his years.
Chief Justice Fletcher had been appointed in
1836 to prepare a revised code of laws. It was
expected that this would be merely a compiladon
of exisdng statutes, with such changes as might be
needed by the change of government. Instead of
this he reported a volume of revised statutes, in
the shape of a single act, divided and subdivided
Into parts, ddes and chapters, and Introducing
some novelties and much confusion. Among other
unexpected changes he subsdtuted a board ot
county commissioners for the board of supervisors,
and omitted to do away with Imprisonment for
debt, which he had been expressly required to do.
The statutes were hasdly prepared, and, as usual
when an entirely new arrangement Is adopted,
they omitted many things, and were quite Imper-
fect, abolishing most of the exisdng general laws,
and not providing adequately for the matters they
had regulated. This code Introduced no import-
ant reforms In the law of property or of proced-
ure, and had no influence In that direction. It
was, however, well arranged, and perspicuous. In
1839, the year after It took effect, a great many
amendments were adopted to supply Its deficien-
cies. One very important subject had been en-
510 REVISED STATUTES. [Chap. XV.
tirely left out. Although preparations had been
made some years before for the erection of a
penitentiary or State prison, and it had been lo-
cated m 1837 and partly completed, the revised
statutes did not attempt to regulate it. A non-
imprisonment act was also passed in 1839, as well
as laws giving power to the Court of Chancery to
wind up insolvent corporations. In 1842, the board
of supervisors was restored as before. The repeat-
ed amendments had produced so much confusion
that in March, 1844, provision was again made for
the appointment of a commissioner to consolidate
and revise the general laws. This duty was per-
formed by Sanford M. Green, who has since
filled the highest judicial offices in the State, and
was reported to the Legislature in 1846. Judge
Green had incorporated all the important amend-
atory legislation, and introduced some valuable new
features tending towards liberality. His work was
somewhat mangled by the zeal of certain so-called
reformers, whose impartial ignorance of law enabled
them to proceed with a degree of confidence not
usually shown by competent legislators. But in
many particulars, and perhaps in most of the more
important respects, his work furnished the greater
part of the code as adopted, and has ever since
remained as the groundwork of our legal system.
The Constitution of 1850 prohibited any further
revisions.
The- removal of the Detroit garrison in 1826
had been regarded as entirely safe, because there
Chap. XV. I PATRIOT WAR 511
was no likelihood of further complications with the
Indians, and the relations with Great Britain were
satisfactory. It had not then occurred to any one
that there might be occasion to protect the fron-
tier from lawless violations of neutrality. The
United States Arsenal had been removed to
Dearborn, so as to be less exposed. In 1837, ^he
Canadian insurrection, known as the Patriot War,
broke out, and for a time kept the lines in tur-
moil. Secret lodges of sympathizers, under the
name of Hunter's Lodges, held meetings in sev-
eral of the lake cities. Durinp- the fall and winter
of 1837-8, it became necessary to employ the mil-
itary forces of the vState to prevent the seizure of
the Arsenal, and to patrol the frontier, until they
could be relieved by the regular army. The move-
ments on the Detroit River were not at this time
very important. The invading forces managed to
get upon Fighting Island, where they remained
until dislodged by artillery, without serious casu-
alties beyond the occasion they gave for the des-
truction of the fine forest on Bois-blanc Island.
In 1838, after a temporary lull, and when nothing-
was suspected, they crossed from Detroit to
Windsor, where a steamboat was burned, and
blood was shed on both sides. The leaders were
captured, and several of them were banished.
Some questions arising concerning the condi-
tion of naturalized citizens, the Michigan Leofisla-
ture, in 1839, memorialized Congress to have
measures taken to secure international recognition
512 NATURALIZATION. FREE SCHOOLS. [Chap. XV.
of the right of expatriation and naturalization.
This has been done within a few years, but has
left the subject in painful uncertainty, without pro-
viding adequately for furnishing evidence of a
change of country, and apparently without having
given any heed to the effect of such legislation on
inheritances and escheats. Few subjects require
more careful handling; and while, under modern
practice, treason is not much considered in deter-
mining the policy of shifting allegiance, the inter-
ests of minors have been disregarded also ; and,
without more careful action, the seeds have been
sown for some of the most vexatious litigation.
There are so many American children born or
educated abroad, that their interests need special
protection. It is not desirable, on grounds of un-
iversal brotherhood, to destroy the sentiment ot
patriotism.
In 1842, the first system of absolutely free
education was authorized to be established in
Detroit. Samuel Barstow and Dr. Zina Pitcher,
and Douglass Houghton, were the most efficient
movers in this matter, although sustained and
aided by many worthy coadjutors. The schools
were organized and advanced with much effort,
until the removal of the Capital to Lansing en-
abled the Board of Education to establish a union
school in the building which had been vacated,
and which never belonged to the State. The
other towns in the State had been equally anxious
to advance their schools, and did so as fast as
Chap. XV.] SCHOOLS. RETRENCHMENT.
513
possible. The superintendents of public instruc-
tion were zealous and energetic, and John D.
Pierce, the first in time and not second in en-
lightened wisdom, has lived to see the system
which he did so much to shape, carried out to
completeness. He was followed by Franklin Saw-
yer, who was afterwards selected to organize the
schools of Louisiana. The superintendents who
have succeeded them have been faithful and val-
uable officers. The lands were early transferred
to the keeping of the State Land Office, and
the superintendents remitted to their more appro-
priate functions.
The collapse of the banking system, and the
misfortunes attending the State management of
internal improvement, led of necessity to a re-
linquishment of the latter, and a return to a
specie basis. In 1842, the State reached a point
where there was nothing left but to begin over
aeain. The State scrip was called in, the suspen-
sion of specie payments rescinded, shinplasters
prohibited, and economy introduced in all things —
beginning notably with public printing, which was
reduced to its narrowest compass, and included
no documents not of permanent importance, — per-
haps erring in this somewhat. A donation oi
500,000 acres of lands for internal improvements
was received from the United States, and aided
more in saving past investments than in tuture
expenditures. It has been doubted, however,
whether, apart from the school and University
83
514 LOANS RESTRICTED. POLITICAL CHANGES. [Chap. XV.
funds, the State has, on the whole, been a great
gainer by the donations of land received from
the United States. In some places they have no
doubt hastened improvements. But, justly or un-
justly, there have been several periods when the
integrity of the management of many of the
schemes which have absorbed them has been very
much doubted, and in some instances their dis-
posal has been fraudulent in the extreme.
In order to prevent any further extravagance,
the Legislature of 1842 submitted, and the next
Legislature and the people ratified, an amendment
to the Constitution, requiring every law authoriz-
ing the borrowing of money on State stocks to
be confined to a single and specified object, for
which alone it should be lawful to use the money,
and to be approved by a popular vote at a
general election. A judicious exception to this
(which if continued under the Constitution of 1850
would have saved much trouble) exempted from
this necessity loans obtained to pay the actual
executive, legislative, and judicial government ex-
penses, and for suppressing insurrection, repelling
invasion, and defending the State in war.
In 1839, the election changed the political con-
trol of the State, and placed it in the hands of
the Whig party, William Woodbridge being
Governor, and James Wright Gordon Lieutenant
Governor. The Legislature had already been
changed so far as to elect Augustus S. Porter as
Senator, to succeed Lucius Lyon. The great
CiiAi". XV.] GOVERNOR BARRY. 515
popular uprising which, in 1840, elected William
Henry Harrison to the Presidency, had secured
him a large following in Michigan, where many of
his old friends and admirers of the Democratic
party as well as Whigs voted for him. His un-
fortunate death, and the quarrels of Congress
with his successor Mr. Tyler, produced a reaction,
and John S. Barry, who assumed the Governor-
ship in 1842, had a series of Democratic suc-
cessors, until the organization of the Republican
party in 1854, when Kinsley S. Bingham was
chosen, and has been followed ever since by
Republican Governors. Governor Woodbridge
was elected Senator to succeed Mr. Norvell in
1 841, by a coalition of Democrats with some
members of the Whig party, who thus defeated
Lieutenant Governor Gordon, the nominee of the
party. Governor Woodbridge remained in the
Senate during his full term of six years, after
which he took no part in public affairs.
Governor Barry was so prominent during the
remainder of his career, that few men are better
remembered among our State officials. He was
more popular in his later than in his earlier in-
cumbency, and never appeared very anxious to
seek popularity. His political views were some-
w^hat extreme, and at times he became very ob-
noxious to his opponents on that ground : and
many regarded his public economy as narrow and
parsimonious. It is nevertheless no more than
justice to his memory to vindicate him from this
516 GOVERNOR BARRY. [Chap. XV.
charge. He has on more than one occasion
manifested the most Hberal views, where the
pubhc good required HberaHty ; and it was due
to the combined efforts of Governor Barry and
Chancellor Farnsworth that the Insane Asylum at
Kalamazoo was planned on a broad basis, instead
of reduced to dimensions and surroundings which
would have rendered it abortive. It is equally
true, (as those who were familiar with his course
while ex-officio presiding officer of the Board of
Regents can testify,) that he was one of the best
friends the University ever had, and that he never
allowed political reasons to intrude where they
did not belone. It never was the fortune of the
writer to agree with Governor Barry in politics,
but he cannot justly abstain from bearing testi-
mony that he was not the mean man he has been
sometimes supposed to be, and that the State and
its institutions have derived lasting benefit from
his rigid integrity and fidelity. When the resources
of a State will permit liberal outlays for laudable
purposes, parsimony may become reprehensible.
But in Governor Barry's early official career, it
required the utmost economy to preserve the
public credit at all ; and there was no time while
he was in office when it was not desirable. The
recent experiences of municipal plundering and
venality in various parts of the country, and the
waste of public property to enable knaves to
outshine their honest neighbors, have not indicated
any serious danger that exactness in guarding the
Chap. XV.] CONDITION OF INDIANS. 517
treasury is running to excess, or in need of
discourao^ement.
At various times, from 1836 to 1842, treaties
had been made with the Indians, whereby in the
latter year the entire tribal titles had been extin-
guished, except as to a few special reservations.
The Indians in the Lower Peninsula were mostly
removed west of the Mississippi. It had long been
felt that it was unjust to prevent them from hav-
ing opportunities of civilization, which could only
be obtained by giving them property to be held
individually, and not by communities. The L'Arbre
Croche Indians, as long back as the Pontiac war,
had been a well-behaved community, and had pros-
pered by honest industry. In 1844, the Legislature
requested the Michigan Senators and Representa-
tives to endeavor to procure for them the position
of American citizens. In 1847, ^^e privilege was
asked that any Indians in the State might be al-
lowed to pre-empt and retain such lands as they
occupied and cultivated, on the same footing with
others. It is not pleasant to notice that the per-
sistent attempts of Michigan to secure to the ori-
ginal holders of the soil a chance to become civ-
ilized possessors of homes in the country of their
fathers, have been thwarted. Although by the
Constitution of 1850, the resident civilized Indians,
who had separated from their tribes, were admitted
to the privilege of voting, yet it was held by the
United States Supreme Court, in United States v.
Holliday\ (3 Wallace, 40,) that it was impossible
518 TRIBAL RELATIONS. [Chai-. XV.
for an Indian to withdraw from his tribal relations
without the consent of the United States. As this
must be accepted as law, it is time Congress
changed it. While we assert the right of every-
body else to go where he pleases, and to change
his allegiance as often as he chooses, it seems
that the guardianship of the government over
these persons annihilates their free agency, and
compels them to barbarism, no matter how much
they may desire to escape it. This rule has a
double action, which was very well exemplified in
1840, in the partially successful efforts of the
British agents at the Manitoulins to draw over
Indian colonists into Canada. They proposed to
include the Michigan half-breed settlers as Indians,
in their distribution of presents. In a meeting of
Indians and half-breeds, in May, 1840, on the
Canada side of the Sault, Shingwauk, the head
chief, referred to this as a part of the scheme of
such a colony. Addressing the American Indians,
he said : " Whether the thing you ask from the
British government will be granted or not, we do
not know, but if the half-breeds will consent to
be under us as hidians. we hope it will be granted.
This is what our fathers told us. The half-breeds
on our side have nearly all consented." Where
the mixed blood is in even quantities, it is not
irrational for Indians as well as white men to
claim its allegiance.
A serious trouble arose in 1841, from the
discovery that a considerable quantity of public
Chav. XV. J FRAUDULENT SURVEYS. NAMES OF COUNTIES. 519
lands put in market, including eighty-one townships
lying mostly north and west of the Saginaw Bay,
had never been surveyed, but had been platted
and returned on fictitious surveys. This discovery
was first suggested by the State Topographer,
Mr. Higgins, who found, in protracting his State
map, that the lakes and water courses in the region
in question presented the appearance of a very
symmetrical tree, with leaves and branches so
very regular that it seemed unlikely the country
could be truly represented. The Legislature, in
1842, called the attention of the government to
the fact, and to the fraud that would be thereby
committed on purchasers whose lands were not
to be found.
In 1840 Indian names were given to twenty-
nine of the northern counties in the Lower Pe-
ninsula, many of which were names of distinguished
chiefs, who had signed the treaties made at differ-
ent times since the Revolution. In 1843, sixteen
of these were re-named. In one case a Michigan
Indian name was changed for a Florida chief's
name, Osceola. Anamickee, or Thunder, the ap-
propriate name for the county including Thunder
Bay, (and the name of a chief,) was transmogri-
fied into Alpena — perhaps a phonetic rendering
of Alpina, if dime novels were then extant. Five
were borrowed from Ireland, one from New York,
one (Montmorency) might have been suggested
from several quarters, and the remainder were of
no special significance. Kishkauko, the patro-
520 MARRIED WOMEN. TEXAS AND OREGON. [Chap. XV.
nymic of the head chief of Saginaw for over a
century, was exchanged for Charlevoix — a very
proper name, but one which might have been
dropped elsewhere as well. The reason for this
is not known.
In 1844, ^^ important step was taken, by se-
curing to married women their property (real and
personal) free from the control of their husbands.
This has since been fixed by the Constitution.
The Legislature, for two or three successive
years, expressed itself in favor of the annexation
of Texas, and the assertion of the Oregon title
up to fifty-four degrees and forty minutes of
north latitude. That boundary was left unsettled
by Mr. Webster in the Ashburton treaty of 1842,
but compromised by Mr. Buchanan by the Treaty
of 1846, in which it was brought down to the
forty-ninth parallel. Unfortunately, the careless
use of language created another ambiguity in the
San Juan de Fuca boundary on the Pacific, which
was recently decided in favor of the United States
by the Emperor of Germany, after nearly thirty
years' dispute. We have been singularly unfor-
tunate in not getting our boundary treaties with
Great Britain so as to make the lines definite
and unambiguous.
In 1846, the State disposed of the Central and
Southern Railroads, and ceased to own any pub-
lic works, (as she has since kept aloof from them,)
and left the building of railroads to private en-
terprise, which is much better adapted to their
Chap. XV.] MEXICAN WAR. COUNTY COURTS. 521
management than the agencies of a repubHcan
government.
In that year the Mexican war broke out. While
there was much difference of opinion about the
acquisition of Texas, there was none about the
duty of Americans to maintain their country
against the assaults of her enemies. The call
for volunteers was readily responded to, and the
Michigan soldiers, both volunteers and regulars, did
no discredit to the State. Resolutions were
adopted by the Legislature in 1847, asserting the
right of the United States, and urging the ener-
getic prosecution of the war ; expressing admira-
tion for the conduct of the army on the Rio
Grande and at Monterey ; d^P-laring it the duty
of the nation to extend the free principles of the
ordinance of 1787 over any territory which should
be acquired, and voting money for the equipment
of volunteers.
About this time a considerable chancre was
made in the judicial system. For three or four
years a majority of the legal business of the
State was required to be brought into county
courts, with elected judges, paid at hrst by fees,
and afterwards by a discretionary salary from the
county treasury. These courts were introduced
on an idea that they would render justice speedily,
cheaply and satisfactorily. In some counties able
men presided in them, and gave satisfaction. This,
however, was not so general as to be customary,
and the method of doing business deprived par-
522 JUDICIAL SYSTEM. [Chap. XV.
ties of some of the most important legal safe-
guards to the impartial selection of juries. Nei-
ther delays nor expenses were lessened, but, in
the end, increased, as every needless intermediate
tribunal has always been found to operate. They
did not in many counties command respect, and
became disorderly. When the constitution of
1850 was adopted they were, by universal consent,
discontinued as worse than failures.
The revision of 1846 abolished the court of
chancery, and transferred the disposition of equity
cases to the circuit courts. This plan has worked
very well — its only drawback being the incapacity
of some county clerks to keep their records and
business in proper shape, and the habit which
sometimes prevails of unduly postponing equity
hearings to accommodate the common law issues.
Our system has become so far simplified that the
unnecessary distinctions between law and equity
have mostly disappeared, and equity proceedings
are only flexible remedies to reach the cases which
cannot properly be tried on common-law issues.
Facilities exist for having juries pass upon such
facts as may require it, without the old necessity
of having them sent before another tribunal. It
is very much safer to have cases of all kinds dis-
posed of before courts familiar with all departments
of the law. Those courts have always acted most
judiciously where legal and equitable, and civil
and criminal, questions are all subject to decision.
To make any system of laws work well, there must
Chap. XV.] RULES OF EVIDENCE. 523
be harmony among all Its departments ; and
specialists are often unsafe counsellors, because
they give undue importance to their subjects, and
magnify forms and multiply distinctions beyond
reason, while they are peculiarly disposed to in-
dulo^e in theories of conduct that ig-nore the in-
finite variety of human action.
The revision of 1846 began some valuable re-
forms in the rules of evidence, v^hich have now
been carried still further. Witnesses were no
longer excluded from testifying by reason of in-
terest, opinion, or character, but all such objec-
tions were made to go to their credibility ; and
juries and courts were allowed, if they believed
their statements, to act upon them. The old rules
were senseless, and well calculated to defeat the
ends of justice. The only rules of exclusion that
rest on real and sensible reasons of policy, are
those which prevent parties from violating confi-
dences, and from criminating themselves. The
revision wisely recognized this, in protecting the
confidences of patients to physicians, and religious
confidences, as well as those of lawyers and clients,
and in the domestic relations of husband and wife.
The necessity of encouraging fidelity in confiden-
tial relations, is much greater than that of encour-
aging litigation ; and rules which would destroy
manly honor and private faith would be poorly
compensated by the small occasional gain that might
ensue to persons contending in the courts, by en-
larging their field of inquisitlveness.
524 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ABOLISHED. [Chap. XV.
This revision also enabled parties in some
cases to obtain the testimony of their adversaries
in law courts, whenever it could have been ob-
tained for the same purpose by bill of discovery
in equity. This was only one step towards the
entire removal of the disability of parties to testify
like other witnesses, — a measure which has been
approved by experience.
The o;reatest changre in criminal law was the
abolition of capital punishment. The previous
laws in regard to felonies had, during the earlier
Territorial days, confined the death-penalty to
murder. This crime had then been divided into
degrees. Murder in the first degree, which em-
braced only the more deliberate and cruel kinds
of murder, was punished by death, while murder
in the second degree was subject to a graduated
and partly discretionary imprisonment. The crime
of murder in the first degree was now made
punishable by imprisonment for life, with no dis-
cretion to reduce it. The statistics of crime have
never been so thoroughly intelligible that any one
can determine very safely what effect this change
has had. It is very doubtful how far the degree
of punishment has any direct bearing on the
minds of those who commit this atrocious crime.
There is, no doubt, an indirect influence exercised
on public opinion by all penal statutes, which
reaches criminals and innocent persons alike, and
produces some effect on their estimate of conduct.
But very few have been known to calculate on
Chap. XV.] CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. ELECTIVE JUDGES
525
the measure of punishment, before committing
homicide, or other violent assaults. There has
been no popular or general expression which
would indicate a desire to restore the death pen-
alty, and it is questionable whether, if existing, it
would be disturbed, if left to a popular vote.
The change made in 1846 was not either demanded
or condemned by the general sentiment. Murders
had not been common in the State, and then, as
now, whatever opinions there were upon the sub-
ject were not the result of study or experience,
but rather of pre-existing ideas and differing
theories. The circumstances of individual crimes
are iSO different that criminal statistics are among
the least valuable means of reachmg safe conclu-
sions on the relations of crime and punishment ;
and few subjects attract less public attention than
the bulk of criminal legislation. The Criminal
Statutes of the United States have seldom called
forth any debate in Congress, and State laws of
the same kind are very apt to be adopted with-
out much discussion. A change so radical as the
removal of the gallows from among the instru-
ments of punishment could not fail to create much
comment, but it did not elicit any full expression
of popular feeling.
The Supreme Court, which began with three
judges, was increased in 1838 to four, and in 1848
to five; and in 1849 ^ constitutional amendment
was proposed, (and afterwards adopted) making
them elective.
526 UPPER PENINSULA. [Chap. XV.
The Upper Peninsula, although the Indian
title was extinguished in 1842, remained unsettled
for some time. The want of shipping on the lake
prevented the development of .business, and the
want of business prevented the building of vessels.
Without a canal to give communication below, it
seemed likely the opening of this country would
be indefinitely postponed. Year after year the
Legislature urged the matter before Congress,
and more than one effort was made to secure a
right of way for a corporation to build the canal.
Some malign influence baulked every effort, until
one might imagine the Military Reserve and all its
surroundings w^ere too hallowed ground for
commerce to tread. In the face of these obstruc-
tions, nothing was left but to wait patiently until
interests should appear, which would be influen-
tial enoup^h to overcome the mischief.
A first essential to settlement was a complete
survey of the lands, or of enough to furnish a
foothold for business. The early explorations of
Dr. Houghton had determined the true character
of the mineral region, but his revelations were so
remarkable as to disturb scientific theories, and
that was a serious affair not to be lightly accepted.
In his earlier excursions he found it impossible to
make complete surveys upon the ground, because
the compass-needle was subject to such great and
varying fluctuations as to render it inefficient.
This difficulty was removed by the genius of a
Michigan scientific inventor, William A. Burt, who
t
Chap. XV. J SOLAR COMPASS COMBINED SURVEYS. 527
had been for many years prominent as a govern-
ment surveyor and engineer, and who devised a
simple and elegant instrument which was indepen-
dent of magnetic disturbances. This was the now
well known solar compass. This remarkable in-
vention not only furnished the means of determin-
ing at a glance a true meridian, but had combined
with it various other functions, which made it, in
a compact form, one of the most useful pieces of
scientific mechanism ever put together. By means
of this the work of the mineral land surveys be-
came easy and accurate. At the same time Dr.
Houghton devised another plan — so simple that
the stupidity which failed to appreciate it is
marvellous — of combining the linear with the
geological survey, and carrying all on together.
This would be more economical than any other,
and would locate with exactness every important
discovery.
The public surveys in Michigan were carried
on under a system devised originally for the
Northwest Territory. A principal meridian line
was first run, and a principal base line upon a
parallel of latitude. All the surveys were made so
as to be reckoned east or west of the meridian,
and north or south of the base. The survey dis-
trict was divided off into townships, nominally six
miles square, but always narrower at the north
than at the south side, because of the conver-
gence of the bounding meridians. Each township
was divided into thirty-six sections, nominally one
528 DOCTOR HOUGHTON'S SYSTEM. [Chap. XV.
mile square, but really affected by the same con-
vergence, except that, instead of the loss being
distributed equally among all the sections, it was
thrown upon the north and west sides of the town-
ship. The more rapid convergence of the lines
as they approached higher latitudes rendered it
necessary to adopt at intervals new, or correction-
al bases, from which to run the town lines north-
ward. Each section was divisible into sixteenths,
but was not usually surveyed in fact into these
minute divisions, but lines were run at half mile
intervals. Dr. Houghton's plan was to have on
these lines, or on still more frequent subdividing
lines when necessary, notes taken of everything
of geological value, and of its exact position, and
if not exactly on the line, to have its bearings
and distances noted. In this way, when the maps
were made up from the surveyor's notes, every
mineral bed or other important object would ap-
pear in its exact place, and could be located and
followed up without difficulty at any time, if a more
thorough examination by the geologist should be
required, without loss of time, in new explorations.
Mr. Burt, who was a good explorer and a man
of science, at once appreciated the value of this
plan. Dr. Houghton succeeded in obtaining au-
thority from the General Land Office to try its
efficacy, and undertook the survey in person, in
company with Mr. Burt, and other competent as-
sistants. The work was done with the facility and
exactness which he anticipated. But at the close
Chap. XV.] HOUGHTON'S DEATH. MINING. 529
of his first season, on the 13th of October, 1845,
Dr. Houghton was overtaken by a storm while in
a small boat near Eagle River, and perished. All
the important notes of his season's work were lost
with him. His death was deeply mourned through-
out the State. It was an irreparable loss to the
Upper Peninsula, for his place was not filled by
those who partook his views or believed in his
plans ; and a system which with diligence and sa-
gacity was feasible, and in all respects admirable,
was dropped. All the subsequent explorations
have been independent and fragmentary.
Enough was now known to stimulate mining
enterprise. The United States, in advance of
further complete surveys, issued permits or licenses
to locate tracts of land for mining purposes, and
leases were o-ranted of these locations, which were
surveyed in a rectangular form, but seldom exactly
conforming to the survey lines subsequently estab-
lished. Companies were formed to work these
locations, and the remarkable developments soon
created a great excitement, until mining companies
furnished a greater source of speculation than
wildcat banking. Nevertheless the companies
very generally were got up for actual mining, and
spent much time and money in developing their
property. The earliest companies were not incor-
porated. In 1847, the Legislature remonstrated
aofainst the action of the oovernment in leavino-
the ricrhts of these lessees in a condition of un-
certainty, and urged that such action be had as
34
530 MINING DIFFICULTIES. [Chap. XV.
to remove doubts as to their title. The lands
were afterwards sold and conveyed in fee simple.
The supplies to the early mines were taken
up to the Sault by vessels or steamboats. There
they were carted, and afterwards carried upon a
short tram-railway, to the head of the rapids, and
taken further by coasting boats, until a vessel or
two could be obtained. The first propellers and
steamers on Lake Superior, were moved past
the Rapids in a sort of cradle or frame, on rollers.
In 1 85 1, or 1852, the last of these steamers, the
Sam Ward, was taken over in the same way. From
the landing places the supplies were taken back
to the mines on pack-horses or mules in summer,
and with dog-trains or sleds in winter. The
mineral, until roads were made, came down to the
landings chiefly during the winter on sleds.
The enormous expense of supplies, and the
loss of money by inexperience and extravagance,
rendered most of the first enterprises costly, and
many of them were ruinous. But the spirit ot
enterprise was proof against all these trials, and
the country became a scene of busy labor and
great activity. Its early settlers, as was natural
in such a region, were men of intelligence and
enlarged ideas, and their influence has been per-
manent. Few countries have had a larger share
of valuable citizens, or a- smaller number of
drones or paupers.
After the sale of the railroads, and the re-
newal of activity in business, which had begun to
Chap. XV.J ASYLUMS. 531
bring out the public resources more evidently, the
attention of the people was turned to some objects
which had been neglected, chiefly from want of
means. At this time the penitentiary at Jackson
was the principal institution directly maintained by
the State. The number of persons disabled from
ordinary pursuits began to attract consideration.
In 1848, preliminary steps were taken to provide
asylums for the deaf, dumb and blind, and for
the insane. Commissioners were appointed to
select locations, and erect buildings, and put the
institutions in operation ; and eight sections of salt
lands were appropriated. At that time the number
of such asylums in the United States was not
large, and their requirements were not well under-
stood. The Board determined, before doing more,
to get such a thorough knowledge of the different
asylums as would enable them to act discreetly,
and to secure such further appropriations as they
should find necessary. Chancellor Farnsworth
visited in person all the institutions of that kind
in the United States. Dr. Pitcher and Mr. Bela
Hubbard had made a study of the treatment of
insanity, and were well informed upon the con-
dition of the principal asylums. The Insane
Asylum had received liberal offers at Kalamazoo,
including a tract of ten acres, which was by many
supposed to be large enough. Governor Barry
and Chancellor Farnsworth secured the selection
of one hundred and sixty acres, by agreeing to
retain it if not confirmed, and finally it was wisely
632 ASYLUMS. UNIVERSITY. NORMAL SCHOOL. [^hap. XV.
determined by the Legislature to appropriate
enough not only to procure this land, which was
a good bargain, but to build a very different
building from what at first they had been disposed
to provide for. In due time it was finished and
equipped, and, under its accomplished superinten-
dent Dr. Van Duzen, has been well managed and
very successful in curing or alleviating the maladies
of many patients, whose lives have been lightened
by its kindly ministrations. The Asylum for the
Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind, was established
at Flint under similar precautions, and has done
great good.
The University graduated its first academic
class in June, 1845. Thereafter it continued to
grow steadily. In 1848, the Medical Department
was organized, which in a few years took rank
with the best in the country. The union school
system was becoming popular, and it was found
important to provide a training school for teach-
ers. Normal schools were as yet experimental,
and the statute of 1849, which established the
State Normal School, gave to the Board of
Education a wide discretion as to its system. Its
object was not only to impart such knowledge as
would benefit teachers already well educated, but
to educate them. Instruction was also to be given
in the mechanic arts, in aoricultural knowledo^e
and science, and in the fundamental laws of the
country, and other matters bearing on the duties
of citizens. This school was established at Ypsi-
Chap. XV.] LAND OFFICE. CAPITAL 533
lanti, and has been continued on a comprehensive
plan, which is undoubtedly wiser than confining it
to the machinery and tactics which to some minds
seem to make up the equipment of teachers.
The Board of Education was found to be a valu-
able body for other public purposes, and has suc-
ceeded to a laro-e course of duties.
In 1843, the State lands, apart from the educa-
tional and special funds, had become important
property, and a State Land Office was established,
which had control given to it of the entire body
of State lands, whether held in trust or otherwise.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction was re-
lieved from the care of lands. The office was
fixed at Marshall, where it remained until removed
to Lansing, under an act of 1849.
Several colleges were from time to time created
under special charters, in different parts o^ the
State. Some of them became quite successful
and some still remain so. The great portion of
them never kept up their organization.
The Constitution of 1835 left the temporary
location of the State Capital subject to legislative
discretion until 1847, when it was to be per-
manently located. When that time came there
was much difficulty in agreeing upon any of the
existing towns, several of which received consider-
able support, but none a majority. A suggestion
was finally made to locate it near the geographical
centre of the State, without selecting a town of
present importance, and it was fixed in the town
534 CAPITAL REMOVED TO LANSING. [Chap. XV.
of Lansing, in Ingham County. Proposals had
been made by parties interested in that township
to procure its location on their lands. The Legis-
lature determined, however, to require its location
by disinterested commissioners, who might consider
the proposals made by those parties or any others,
but were to act on their own best judgment.
The school section in that township had not been
sold, and, as it was a very eligible spot, it was
determined to place the Capital there. This not
only gave the school-fund the benefit of having
the seat of government laid out upon it, but was
probably as good a choice as could have been
made. The position is handsome and well adapted
to a city. Although its isolation retarded its
growth, it is now increasing rapidly, and in the
road to prosperity. A Capitol building was put
up in a very few months, and intended to serve
but a temporary purpose ; while a larger and
finer building-site was set apart for the future
permanent edifice. Fortunately the temporary
building was retained until the State was disposed
to substitute another worthy of permanence ; and
before the end* of the coming year the entire
business of the commonwealth will be centred in
a large and stately Capitol, fair in its proportions,
and having, if as well managed hereafter as here-
tofore, no reminder of fraud or peculation to mar
the popular pride in the undertaking. All the
moneys devoted to it have been honestly and
faithfully expended.
Chai'. XV.] NEW CONSTITUTION CONTEMPLATED
535
There were several circumstances which led the
minds of the people towards a revision of the Con-
stitution. It could have been amended easily, but
it was supposed a new instrument might be made
more homogeneous. Probably the chief cause of
the chanee was the va2:ue desire that sometimes
o-ets abroad to revolutionize or alter affairs, without
any fixed plan or object. Other States had made
sweeping revisions, and Michigan should follow
them. There were, nevertheless, some subjects on
which there had been agitation and warmth.
By amendments already in force, the power to
borrow money had been much circumscribed, and
the cabinet officers as well as judges had been
made elective, thus divorcing the Governor from
the rest of the executive department, and destroy-
ing his chief executive function and responsibility.
It was still claimed that he had influence remain-
ing that might be used corruptly or unfairly for
his own benefit, and that the Legislature were also
exposed to sinister influences. The charges which
were bandied about, if they had any force, would
almost go to demonstrate the failure of free gov-
ernment entirely. But, such as they were, they
had some weight in the adoption of a constitution,
with many very good features, but which intimates
from first to last that no one is to be trusted.
The abuse of the appointing power had been
prevented by taking it away. But there is little
in the history of Michigan to indicate its abuse.
There had been a series of senatorial elections.
536 SUPPOSED ABUSES. [Chap. XV.
which are not beHeved to have been the result of
any pecuHar executive influence, but which were
in the heat of discussion charged to that, and
which led to a constitutional inhibition ag^ainst the
selection of a governor as senator. This, however,
has been regarded as beyond the popular control,
and inoperative. The succession of the Senate is
a proper item of State history, and was as follows.
As already seen, Lucius Lyon and John Norvell
were elected Senators in 1835. By the allotment
in the vSenate when they were admitted, Mr.
Lyon's term was made to expire in 1839, ^^^ M^-
Norvell's in 1841. The Legislature of 1839 elec-
ted Mr. Porter, a Whig, — Mr. Mason, the Gover-
nor, being a Democrat. In 1841, the Whig Leg-
islative nomination was given to Mr. Gordon, the
Lieutenant Governor ; but a secret arrangement
was made by the Democratic members with some
Whig members to support Governor Woodbridge,
who was elected. The next vacancy occurred in
1845, when the Democrats were in power, and
John S. Barry was Governor. Mr. Porter, of
course, was left out. General Cass had returned
to Michigan, and had been in 1844 prominent be-
fore the Democratic National Convention as a
Presidential candidate ; and, through Mr. Van
Buren's influence, had been defeated by Mr. Polk.
He was so manifestly the proper man for senator
that he was elected at once. In 1847, when Gov-
ernor Woodbridge retired, Alpheus Felch was
Governor. He had been Auditor General and
Cmap. XV.] SENATORIAL ELECTIONS. 537
Judge of the Supreme Court, resigning his latter
office upon his election as Governor, in the fall
of 1845. The Legislature of 1847 elected Gover-
nor Felch to the Senate. This was the second
instance of a governor thus honored.
In 1847, Epaphroditus Ransom, then Chief
Justice, was elected Governor, and assumed his
executive duties in January, 1848. General Cass
was that spring nominated for the Presidency
against General Zachary Taylor, and resigned his
seat in the Senate. The Legislature was not in
session, and the power of appointment fell to the
Governor, who appointed Thomas Fitzgerald to
fill the vacancy until the Legislature should meet.
It was then thought, by those who anticipated the
election of General Cass, that Governor Ransom
would become the colleague in the Senate of his
predecessor in both offices, Governor Felch.
General Taylor's election, as it did not change
Michigan politics, left General Cass again the
most suitable choice for the Senate, and he was
again elected by common consent. No other
Senatorial elections took place until after the
new Constitution took efiect.
In these cases Governor Woodbridge was
elected by the opposing party, and Governor
Felch never was suspected of being elected on
any ground but his fitness for the place. The
fear that one office would be used to obtain
another, was not based on any actual success of
that kind. But when people become suspicious,
588 CORPORATE MONOPOLIES. [Chap. XV
and look out for grievances, any hint will arouse
their suspicions.
Another evil was more obvious. The existing
Constitution prevented general corporation laws,
and no corporation could exist without special
charter. In the early days of the State, railroad
and bank charters were given to any one who
asked them, and so were charters for all pur-
poses. These charters contained no personal
liabiHty clauses, and were generally very ill-
guarded against abuse. As contracts, they had
become irrevocable. A host of banks had failed,
and now there were not over about half a dozen
in the State, and their charters were approaching
an end. There was a great popular fear of their
multiplication, and some jealousy of their renewal.
The new railroad companies had been given very
liberal charters when they bought their roads
from the State, and there were strong assurances
against competition. As the necessity for new
roads arose, there were difficulties about securing
charters. It was found that at each session the
•Legislature was beset by an importunate and ag-
o-ressive lobby, who became an intolerable nuis-
ance, and threw suspicion on the honesty of
every thing they favored. Charges were freely
made of corruption, and a decision, either for or
against a corporate interest, was subject to be
impugned. All these scandals arose from corpor-
ations under special charters, or persons desiring
or opposing the grant of new charters. A very
CiiAr. XV.] NEW CONSTITUTION. SLAVERY. 539
general feeling was aroused In favor of changing
this system, and making provision for general
corporation laws, creating no individual privileges.
These and other less defined discontents led
to the calling of a new Constitutional convention,
which met at Lansing in 1850, and prepared the
Constitution under which we now live, which was
adopted by popular vote, and took effect on the
first of January, 1851.
The period between the Mexican war and the
adoption of the Constitution of 1850 was largely
taken up with discussions on the question of
slavery in the Territories, and this postponed the
civil government of New Mexico, and California
and the other acquired lands, until settled by the
Compromise of 1850. The Michigan Legislature
passed repeated and strong resolutions in favor
of suppressing the slave trade in the District of
Columbia, and preventing its existence in any of
the acquired territory. In 1850, the admission of
California as a free State was insisted upon, and
the question of passing measures of harmony
was entrusted to the discretion of the Senators
and Representatives in Congress. This resolution
and one in favor of the free navigation of the
St. Lawrence, closed the work of the last Legis-
lature under the old Constitution.
CHAPTER X V I .
MICHIGAN UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 185O.
The Convention which met in 1850 agreed
upon a constitution, some parts of which were re-
enactments, although in different language, of what
had already been in force. Some very important
changes, however, were introduced, and some re-
markable restrictions.
The judicial system was changed by making,
for the present, eight circuit judges, (whose
number might be enlarged) with supreme court
powers, instead of supreme court judges with
circuit powers. The judges were to hold office
for six years, and the courts were to have law
and equity powers. County courts were abolished,
and the jurisdiction of justices of the peace was
raised to three hundred dollars, with power to
increase it to five hundred dollars — subject to
such exceptions as should be provided by law.
After six years, a separate supreme court with
four judges, was authorized to be created. The
Upper Peninsula was under the jurisdiction of a
district court, which might ultimately be changed
to a circuit court. Grand juries were not abolished,
but it became lawful to dispense with them. Im-
Chap. XVI. J CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS. 541
prlsonment for debt, except in cases of fraud and
fiduciary or official misconduct, was forbidden.
The sessions of the Legislature were to be
held once in two years, instead of annually, and
both senators and representatives to be chosen for
one legislative term. Representatives were to be
elected from single districts, except that in cities
and townships entitled to more than one member,
all were to be chosen by one ticket. Special
acts of incorporation could no longer be passed
except for municipal purposes. All other than
municipal corporations were to be organized under
general laws. Every law was required to be con-
fined to a single object, specified in its title, and
not to take effect within ninety days after the
adjournment of the Legislature, without a two-
thirds vote of all the members elected to each
house ; and the yeas and nays were required on
the passage of all statutes. Amendments could
only be made by re-enacting at length the section
as amended. No private claim could be audited
or allowed by the Legislature, and a two-thirds
vote was required for every act appropriating
money to private or local purposes. License laws
for the sale of intoxicating liquors were forbidden.
All revenue for ordinary purposes was re-
quired to be raised by annual taxes, but specific
taxes on corporations were to be applied on the
State debt, and after its extinguishment paid over
to the primary school fund. All interest on the
educational trust funds was payable out of specific
542
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS. [Chap. XVI.
taxes. No debts (except for war purposes) could
be incurred beyond fifty thousand dollars, and the
State could not aid or be interested in either
corporate stock, or works of internal improve-
ment, except in expending grants for the latter
purpose. State credit could not be loaned or
granted in aid of persons or corporations. Taxes
(not specific) were to be levied on property
assessed at its cash value.
Agricultural leases, upon rents, were confined
to twelve years, and corporation lands, except
where used for corporation purposes, could not
be left unsold beyond ten years. Careful guards
were placed upon the subjecting of private pro-
perty to purposes of public utility.
No revision of the statutes was to be made,
but compilations of existing laws were permitted.
This was done by Judge Thomas M. Cooley, in
1857, and by Judge James M. Dewey in 1871.
All State and judicial offtcers were made elec-
tive, subject to impeachment for misconduct.
Judges were made removable, on the concurrent
resolution of two-thirds of both houses. By a
subsequent amendment, other State officers were
removable for misconduct, by the executive.
The Governor had, as before, the qualified
veto power, and a power to reprieve and pardon
after conviction, (except on impeachment.)
The elective franchise was originally confined
to white male citizens, and persons who had
CiiAP. XVI. J CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS.
543
declared their intentions to become citizens six
months before election, and resided in the State
two years and six months. Civilized native
Indians not connected with any tribe could
also vote. By subsequent amendment, the word
" white " was stricken out, but an amendment
permitting women to vote was defeated.
The school funds were provided for as before,
except that the ultimate destination of specific
taxes and of the proceeds of escheated lands, was
to be added to the primary school fund. Free
schools were to be kept in each district, at least
three months in the year. Provision was made
for an agricultural school, for benevolent institu-
tions, for the Normal School, and for public li-
braries in every township, and all fines for the
breach of penal laws were devoted to these
libraries.
The University was put under an elective board
of regents, consisting of eight members, elected at
the same time and in the same districts with the
circuit judges, except that the vote of the Upper
Peninsula was attached to that of the third circuit.
In 1863, the Board was made elective by the State
at large, for terms of eight years, two members
retiring every two years.
Homestead exemptions of property to the value
of fifteen hundred dollars, (not alienable or subject
to incumbrance except by joint act of husband
and wife if belonging to married persons,) were
secured ; and the property of married women was
544 CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS. [Chap. XVI.
secured to their sole use. Aliens bona fide resident
were given the same property rights as citizens.
Salaries of circuit judges, legislators, and exe-
cutive officers, were permanently fixed ; and sev-
eral provisions were adopted to exclude them
from leaving one office for another. Stationery
allowances to the Legislature were limited, and
public contracts were confined to the lowest
bidders.
This Constitution was much more specific than
that of 1835, ^^^ some of its provisions, — espe-
cially in regard to salaries, — have been found
troublesome. The guards against loans beyond
fifty thousand dollars, to meet revenue deficiencies,
were, on one occasion, when the treasury was
depleted by embezzlement, only prevented from
ruinous mischief by private liberality.
The history of the State, since the new Con-
stitution was adopted, has been prosperous but
not eventful, and there have been few striking
occurrences. Its release from the dangers of debt
and extravagance in public works, has left the
public business chiefly confined to the legitimate
oversight of the general interests. The expendi-
ture of grants of land for various works of im-
provement has involved some trouble and difficulty,
but no considerable pecuniary dealings. There
have been no home disturbances to break in upon
the public tranquillity, and not many cases of gross
official misconduct requiring the interposition of
the criminal laws. Nevertheless the course of
Chap. XVI. J SUCCESSIVE GOVERNORS. 545
affairs contains some thinp^s worth recordino- as
important if not remarkable.
Under the Constitution, Governor Barry con-
tinued in office until 1852. In 1851, an election
was to be held for a Governor to hold a single
year, until January, 1853, when the regular bi-
ennial term was to succeed. Robert McClelland
was elected for the short term, and re-elected for
the next two years, (1853-4,) and Andrew Parsons
was elected Lieutenant Governor. These were
succeeded by Kinsley S. Bingham in 1855, Moses
Wisner in 1859, Austin Blair in 1861, Henry H.
Crapo in 1865, Henry P. Baldwin in 1869, and
John J. Bagley in 1873.
The sessions of 1851 were mostly devoted to
such legislation as was necessary to accommodate
matters to the changed Constitution. Attention
was, however, called to the increased necessity for
a canal round the Falls of St. Mary's River ; and
Congress was addressed upon the subject. Reso-
lutions were also passed, both in 1851 and in
1853, calling upon the United States to protect
the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in their Mich-
igan setdements, and asserting their quiet character
and advancement in industry and civilization. The
swamp lands which had been offered upon certain
conditions by the United States were also accepted.
By a series of laws since passed, diese lands
have been brought into market, made accessible
by roads, and largely disposed of to setders on
liberal terms. Many if not a majority of these
'6b
546 SAULT CANAL. UPPER PENINSULA. [Chap. XVL
lands have become or will become habitable, and
valuable.
In 1852, the United States granted 750,000
acres of land to build a ship canal at the Sault
de Ste. Marie. The State let the contract to re-
sponsible parties, for the appropriation, and the
canal was at once put in course of construction,
and finished in the spring of 1855. Its effect was
immediate in reducing mining expenses, and in
furnishing inducements to open and settle the
country. The towns began at once to increase,
and the subsequent growth of the iron and copper
regions was rapid. The work has since been
enlarged and improved at the expense of the
United States government.
In 1859, reports were received leading to the
belief that an easy communication could be had
with the Pacific by w^ater ways and natural roads,
requiring no improvement. It was stated that a
gentleman had come over from Puget's Sound to
St. Paul in a wheeled vehicle, in a very short time,
having met with no obstacles whatever .to hinder
his journey. After examining into the facts, the
Legislature memorialized Congress to establish a
tri-weekly mail between St. Paul's and Puget
Sound. The Northern Pacific Railroad had not
then been thought of
The Upper Peninsula, as already suggested,
was for a time connected with Wayne County,
for the purpose of electing regents of the Univer-
sity. This arrangement was made because, al-
Chap. XVI.] BEAVER ISLANDS. ^ 547
though geographically distant from Detroit, the
business connection was closer than with any other
part of the State. This led to another arrange-
ment, made on the same grounds of convenience.
In 1853, the Counties of Emmet and Cheboygan
were organized. Under the new Constitution they
could not longer remain connected with Mackinaw,
as that was in the Upper Peninsula, and no other
organized county was convenient. They were
accordingly attached to the Third Circuit. But
the real purpose of some of the parties concerned
arose out of a remarkable condition of affairs.
The Beaver Islands, in Lake Michigan, were
anciently the principal seat of the nation of the
Beavers or Amikoue, a tribe at one time held in
very high esteem, as supposed to be descended
from the Great Beaver. He was a mythological
being held second only to Michabou, or the Great
Hare, the most powerful spirit in the catalogue of
Indian divinities. When the remnant of the tribe
retired to Manitoualin Island, in Lake Huron, they
were succeeded in their old home by a band of
Ottawas, who in Charlevoix's time had become
good farmers, and emulated the Huron s in ao^ri-
cultural labors. During the Pontiac war it was
in close union with the settlement at L'Arbre
Croche, and was then, as it was long after, a place
held in some sort of mysterious reverence. By
the Treaty of March, 1836, with the Ottawas and
Chippewas, the Beaver Islands were specially
reserved for the Beaver Island Indians. The
548 MIGRATORY JURISDICTION. Chai'. XVI.
Senate, in confirming this reservation, with others,
undertook to Hmit it to five years, unless permis-
sion was given by the United States to remain
longer. If made with white men, this would be
regarded as a somewhat singular method of deal-
ing with treaties, unless subsequently ratified.
How far any steps were taken legally under this
change in the treaty it may not be easy to deter-
mine. But in 1847, ^ township was created called
the Township of Peaine, including the Beaver
Islands as a part of Mackinaw County, and
establishing the place of meetings at Beaver
Island Harbor, " at the store of A. Cable."' The
Constitution of 1850 placed all the islands in Lake
Michigan in the region known as the Upper
Peninsula. But in 1853 the County of Emmet
(formerly named Tonedagone from a chief of
note,) was organized, and the Township of Peaine
was expressly recognized as a part of it. The
county was attached to the Third Circuit, and the
judge of that circuit held court at St. James, the
principal settlement and county seat, on the largest
Beaver Island. In 1855, Manitou County was
organized, out of the various clusters of islands in
the northern part of Lake Michigan ; and St. James
was made the county seat until another was
provided. In 1871, after having been organized
six years, the county was attached to Mackinaw
for court purposes, '' until other provision is made
by law for holding a court in said County ol
Manitou." In 1865, it was attached to Leelenaw.
It has since become independent again.
Chav. XVI. J MORMON KINGDOM. 549
To understand this curious handling, it may be
explained in part by the colonization of the islands.
While there were some settlers on Beaver Island,
who, whether rightfully or wrongfully there, were
carrying on business peaceably, fishing and trading,
and in some instances farming, their quiet was
disturbed by the arrival of a considerable body
of Mormons, who had seceded from the main
body, and had come to establish a kingdom in the
old seat of the Indian Manitou. Their monarch
was King James the First — known to other
mortals as James J. Strang. He established his
court at St. James, and became an autocrat. The
unfortunate Gentiles, who had no legal title to their
lands, but who were probably expecting to pre-
empt them, were crowded off the island, and treated
as roughly as it was safe to treat them, being
robbed in such a way as to render it difficult to
establish any case against the wrong-doers. Here
for a time the isolation of the islands rendered
it easy to carry out the royal plans, and the
domain became in a certain sense prosperous under
its politico-ecclesiastical monarchy, which absorbed
a lion's share of the gains. Good stock was intro-
duced,— a newspaper established, — and the press
used for home purposes. Outsiders were not
desired or welcome. This state of things first
o
came into notice when the fishermen of Mackinaw,
and others engaged in various interests, came in
collision with the islanders; and a bitter feud
arose, but the Mormons held their own. No
550 MORMON AFFAIRS. [Chap. XVt.
adequate means existed for bringing them to
justice, by reason of some doubts touching their
legal jurisdictional position ; and the local offices
were all in the hands of the faithful, so that re-
dress was hopeless there. At last a case was got
up against them for an alleged interference with
the United States mail ; and the armed steamer
Michigan was sent up from Detroit, with officers to
arrest Strang and some of his chief followers.
The complaint, however, was not legally well-
founded ; and although the proceedings disclosed
much that was not creditable, and many of the
island people were shown up in an unpleasant
light, it did not appear that they had violated the
laws of the United States. Strang, as might have
been expected from his influence over the people,
turned out to be an intelligent and well educated
man, of pleasing address, and free from any
offensive ways among strangers ; and he became
personally popular with those who met him. He
improved his time by becoming well informed on
his legal condition and prospects, and appeared at
the next Legislature as member from Emmet.
He then procured the legislation which completed
its organization, and detached it from Mackinaw,
where everybody was hostile. His demeanor in
the Legislature was such as to command respect,
and he was reckoned a useful member. During
the interval before the next Legislature, the feel-
ings of the neighboring fishermen became very
bitter, and the general course of things did not
Chap. XVI.] SPOILING THE SPOILERS. 551
change. But at last Strang was murdered, while
entering the steam ship Michigan, which was lying
at the wharf on the island. After his death, the
people of the mainland revenged themselves on
his followers by an organized raid, in which nearly
everything removable was carried off as booty,
and confiscated, or in the phrase of the captors,
(borrowed from some former unpleasant island
experiences of their own when they were victi-
mised) " consecrated!' The island was now in the
Upper Peninsula District, and in the absence of
any organized county government it was difficult
to dispense justice there. Attempts were made at
Mackinaw to bring the spoilers to a reckoning,
but the prosecutions all failed for lack of evidence,
and might also, perhaps, have been affected by
public prejudice. As lawlessness had only pre-
vailed against what was believed to have been
quite as bad or worse lawlessness, the result was
not as shocking to the popular sense of justice as
it would have been under other circumstances.
The plunder included some valuable and expensive
property, — among other things several handsome
boats, and the largest and finest mules that were
ever seen in the State. The subsequent legal
condition of the islands, harried and abandoned,
is easily accounted for, and their practical outlawry
was not singular.
The whole upper country was for many years
shut out from easy access, from seven to eight
months in the twelve. The law required two
552 LAW IN THE NORTH. [Chap. XVI.
terms of court to be held in each year, in ever}''
county, and of course these came quite near
together ; while, between the latest fall and earli-
est spring or summer term, there was a very
long interval. They were fortunate in obtaining,
in the Honorable Daniel Goodwin, a judge of
great legal knowledge and experience, who did
business promptly, and was seldom appealed
from. Neither judge nor bar resided in the
Upper Peninsula ; and from November till May
or June, legal proceedings were often left in very
inexperienced hands. In a scattered population,
containing very few legally qualified as jurors, it
was sometimes troublesome to fill a panel of
either grand or petit jurors who were both com-
petent and disinterested. No county buildings
were furnished in some of the counties, and in
some the prison was unfit for winter habitation,
if they had one at all. Accordingly it was inevi-
table that many irregularities should exist, and
that the people winked at things which they could
not improve. In one county a serious riot
occurred in midwinter, where the case went
beyond the powers of a justice of the peace ;
and a worthy gentleman who was circuit court
commissioner assumed the duty recommended by
the old saw, est boni judicis ampliare jiirisdictioneui,
and tried and sentenced the offenders to a long
imprisonment. As he was the only one who
could issue a habeas corpus in the absence ot
Judge Goodwin, the imprisonment was as effectual
Chap. XVI.] IRREGULAR JUSTICE. LIQUOR LAWS. 553
as if it had been legal ; and as it was deserved,
the sentence was popularly approved. An action
for false imprisonment was defeated by the re-
moval of the defendant beyond any temporal
jurisdiction; but the damages likely to be assessed
by a jury of citizens for shutting up the disturb-
ers of the peace would not have impoverished
him if he had lived. A young Indian charged
with murder (committed, if at all in an Indian
carouse, and not aggravated) was allowed to go
at large without bail for several terms, and regu-
larly appeared promptly for trial until his case
was heard. He was wofully ignorant of the
customs of the whites in similar circumstances.
Speedy and irregular remedies were not much
blamed where there was great provocation ; and
the dangers of drunkenness among miners, which
rendered it necessary to keep liquor-sellers away
from the locations, sometimes led to their expul-
sion in a way more summary than comfortable.
With such temporary variations from the regular
process of law, there was a general respect for
substantial justice, and for the judgments of com-
petent tribunals, and no disposition to lawless
wronor.
In 1853, a prohibitory liquor law was passed
which was made to depend upon a popular vote,
and was therefore regarded as not legally enacted.
In 1855, a similar act was adopted by the Legis-
lature, without popular intervention, and sustained.
It continued in force until repealed in 1875, and
554 UNIVERSITY. [Chap. XVI.
replaced by a series of taxing and regulating
statutes, which have been much more faithfully
enforced, and have accomplished much good.
The new board of regents of the University
were required to appoint a president, who, in
addition to his duties in the college, was to be
chairman of the regents, but without a vote.
They selected the Rev. Henry P. Tappan, D.D.,
an accomplished scholar and able man, who
remained in that post until 1863, when, after a
prolonged controversy with the regents, arising
mainly out of differences as to the prerogatives
of his office, he was removed. His place was
filled by the appointment of Rev. Erastus O.
Haven, D.D., who in turn, upon resigning, was,
(after an interval during which Dr. Frieze was
acting president) followed by the present able
and estimable incumbent Dr. James B. Angell.
During Dr. Tappan's administration, the Univer-
sity was more completely organized, several
important changes were devised to enlarge and
vary its courses of study, and it made great
advancement. An observatory was contributed by
private subscriptions, chiefly by his procurement,
and the library, museums, and other accessaries,
were increased and improved. His plans were
liberal, and his aims were very high. The Uni-
versity has been conducted in the main according
to the views with which he had planned to con-
duct its scholastic courses, and its success is
largely due to his liberal ideas. The unpleasant
Chap. XVI.]
LAW SCHOOL. 555
difficulties which terminated in a change of presi-
dents, necessarily led to much controversy and
heat, amonor those who did not view them in the
same way, nor understand all the facts alike.
In 1859, the law department was added, which
completed the original scheme. Its principal aim
is to teach the law in its various branches as now
developed in this country from a common-law
origin, historically and scientifically as well as
practically. Its success has been satisfactory, and
its pupils, who have been received from all parts
of North America, as well as occasionally from
foreign parts, have furnished their fair proportion
of men of note, and successful lawyers. The
faculty first chosen consisted of Thomas M. Cooley,
Charles I. Walker and James V. Campbell, all of
whom were then or since on the State bench.
Judge Cooley has become eminent as a legal
author. Judge Walker has, in addition to profes-
sional eminence, rendered great public services in
various departments of social science and philan-
thropic labors and researches, and has exceptional
familiarity with the history of the Northwest.
Professors Pond, Kent and Wells are also dis-
tinguished and scholarly lawyers.
The University fund, in 1837, received a loan
from the State by an advance of $100,000 of
bonds, the proceeds of which were used in build-
ing and other preliminary outlays. Interest on
this had been deducted annually from the income
of the fund. By a transfer to the State of the
556 UNIVERSITY FINANCES. [Chap. XVI.
property in Detroit, now occupied by the city
hall, and by the sale of a large amount of lands
for interest-bearing State warrants which were
cancelled, this debt had been reduced, and probably
more than paid ; but, either from misapprehension,
or as was claimed, from a re-statement of the
account, this interest, after the removal of the
Capital and the re-organization of the State offices
at Lansing, re-appeared as an annual charge, to
its full original amount of six per cent, on
5^100,000. The Legislature of 1853, without at-
tempting to settle the obscure facts, directed a
remission of the interest for two years, which was
afterwards made permanent. In 1867, a tax was
authorized in aid of the University, of one-
twentieth of a mill on the dollar, which has since
been continued, under a limitation that it shall not
exceed $50,000 before the year 1881, when a new
equalization of assessments will be made. In 1871,
Governor Baldwin urged the claims of the Univer-
sity very strongly upon the Legislature, and an
appropriation was made to build a central univer-
sity hall, which has since been completed. Gover-
nor Bagley was instrumental in procuring further
appropriations to complete the hall, and meet other
pressing necessities.
The position of this institution, which is a
necessary part of the system of public education,
and which has been, nevertheless, mainly fostered
by the United States endowment, will undoubtedly
secure it liberal treatment in the future, and
Chap. XVI. J HOMa.OPATHY. WOMEN ADMITTED. 557
place it, where it ought to be, as a thoroughly
State institution, necessary to State prosperity,
and entitled to the same liberal support which is
due to all public instrumentalities that serve high
and useful purposes.
There have been some subjects of warm dis-
cussion which are now mostly settled. For
many years a desire was felt by those who
approve the homoeopathic system of medicine, and
who compose a considerable body of citizens
represented in the Legislature, to have provision
made for instruction in their tenets. The diffi-
culty of introducing opposing systems into the
same institution prevented for several years a
pleasant solution of the question. By establishing
a separate school at the University for teaching
the views of homoeopathy, so far as they do not
harmonize with other medical teachings, and by
taking away from every professor any danger of
responsibility for views which he does not approve,
all reasonable grround for trouble seems to be
removed, and justice is done to both systems.
The education of women in the University was
also introduced after long doubting. When the
controversy first arose, the Michigan University
was found to differ from most of the colleges in
the country in furnishing no rooms or boarding-
facilities to students. These were all expected to
procure board and lodging for themselves, and re-
sort to the University only for the purposes of
attending recitations, lectures, and public exercises,
558 FEMALE EDUCATION. [Chap. XVI.
or for consulting books in the library. The
adverse views of nearly all the other college facul-
ties did not take this into the account. Most of
the objections urged against the education of
women and men in the same classes were theore-
tical, and many were inapplicable to such a state
of things as existed in Ann Arbor. The exper-
iment was one which could not have been long
postponed without creating worse difficulty, and
it was felt that if it failed, after a fair trial, it
could not at any rate do any serious harm to try
it. The branches of the University had female
scholars, and our union and high schools had
found no trouble in teaching them. The exper-
iment has been entirely successful. The ladies
who have entered the University have been equal
in all respects to their tasks, and have not been
kept behind by either mental or physical dis-
abilities. They have been treated with delicate
respect by their associates, and have been entirely
independent of any unwelcome companionship.
The learning which sat so gracefully on Lady
Jane Grey and Mrs. Somerville, and did not pre-
vent the fair Professors of Bologna from possess-
ing any of the feminine accomplishments, cannot
unsex their successors now, and is as wholesome
and harmless discipline, to those who choose it,
as any other pursuit can be. And if there are
men who think unworthily of women, or women
who deserve no admiration, neither of them are likely
to fall into such unworthiness in the pursuit of
Chap. XVI.) JUVENILE OFFENSES. 559
sound learning. The accomplishments which pro-
duce no refinement are not those of the college
class room.
The admission of women to the study of
medicine has been so admirably approved by its
results, that all who are not prejudiced beyond
reason perceive how much has been gained by it.
There is one decided advantage among female
students. None go into any of the departments
of a university for the mere name of it. There
are no attractions for any but those who wish to
improve their faculties. It is not likely they will
ever attend in as large numbers as men. But
those who do enter will probably — as they cer-
tainly have done heretofore — keep fully even with
their classes.
In 1855, the first steps were taken towards
establishing a separate place of detention for
young offenders. It has gone through different
experiences, and has not been uniformly managed.
In many cases, courts and magistrates have
apparently lost sight of the rules of law which
prohibit the punishment of children as criminals
until they have reached years of discretion, and
have allowed them to be convicted of crime when
it was wickedly absurd to hold them to any such
responsibility, and was in plain violation of ele-
mentary rules of law. The gentlemen who have
had the duty of managing the institution have
been usually humane men, and have devoted
time and patience to bringing good from the
560 YOUNG OFFENDERS. [Chap. XVI
system. As at present conducted, it is likely to
lead to important results. Such establishments
are curses instead of blessings, when they fall
into any but benevolent and patient hands ; and
when they are made to follow the analogies of
prisons, they present the shocking and cruel
anomaly of punishing those who, if responsible at
all, are only lightly responsible, more severely
and for longer periods than old offenders. And
what is still worse, they put trifling misdemeanors
on the same footing with deliberate murder.
Whatever benefits have been derived from this '
system have been due to the personal interven-
tion of its managers and of the State executive.
Its legal position, without this, leaves room
enough for gross abuses. When first organized
it simply provided a separate place of confine-
ment for persons sentenced, when under fifteen
years of age, — leaving the duration of each sen-
tence to be governed by the general laws. Now
the punishment for all juvenile offenders under i6
is by seclusion until they reach their majority,
unless discharged by the Board; so that in the
ordinary course of things, unless interfered with,
the youngest children undergo the longest term
of punishment. Until this becomes legally and *
entirely — what it has been made partially in good
hands — an asylum and not a prison, its position
cannot but be regarded as dangerously peculiar.
A most valuable and humane scheme was
adopted in 1871, under the recommendation of
Chap. XVI.] CHARITIES. 56 I
Governor Baldwin, whereby much wiser provision
is made for die prevendon of juvenile depravity.
A law was then passed to establish a State Public
School, for dependent and neglected children.
This is fixed at Coldwater ; and the plan, which
has been well devised and carefully put in execu-
tion under the personal care of Governors
Baldwin and Bagley, is apparently judicious, and
well adapted to promote the welfare of the neg-
lected young persons who are thus snatched from
vicious surroundings. The appointment of State
agencies to look after the cases of children
charged with crime, and see that they are
humanely and wisely dealt with, has added great
safeguards against mischief.
A commission was also organized in 1871 for
the general supervision of penal, pauper, and
reformatory institutions, including also the asylums
for the deaf and dumb, blind and insane. Hons.
Charles I. Walkei% Heniy W. Lord, Z. R. Brock-
zuay and Uzziel Putnam as commissioners, with
the efficient services of Hon. Charles M. Croszuell
as secretary, and with the active aid and sympathy
of the executive, have already done great and
good service in their beneficent mission. The
progress of the State in works of benevolence
and mercy, under the leading of its last and pre-
sent Governors, has been very great, and creates
a most honorable part of her history. More work
of this sort has been done within the last eight
years than in all her previous experience. It was
36
562 GRAND JURIES DISCONTINUED [Chap XVI
contemplated by the founders of the State, and
not neglected ; but within the last few years both
education and humanity have received much more
attention, and have been much more wisely and
earnestly fostered than ever before.
In 1859, an important change was made in
criminal prosecutions. Under the Constitution of
1850, grand juries had ceased to be obligatory,
but had not been abolished. In 1857, a new
criminal court was created in Detroit, and prose-
cutions were allowed to be conducted in it by
information. This change was introduced by
Hon. Alexander W. Buel, who had principal
charge of drawing up the charter. At the session
of 1859, the same gentleman introduced a bill to
extend the practice into all the circuit courts.
This law allowed informations to be filed in all
cases when there had been a regular preliminary
examination, for felonies as well as misdemeanors.
Thereafter grand juries did not act unless specially
ordered and summoned. The effect of this change
has not been bad in most cases. Nevertheless
grand juries are seldom called unless at the re-
quest of the Prosecuting Attorney. It is question-
able whether any advantage has been gained
beyond an apparent economy and — in some cases
— an increase in expedition. The power left in
the hands of prosecuting attorneys is not adequate-
ly checked. A dishonest or timid attorney has
too much opportunity to abuse his powers in both
directions of prosecuting and abstaining from pro-
Chap. XVI.] REPUBLICAN PARTY. 563
secution. There is a strong temptation to corrup-
tion. While the system of informing has been not
unwisely extended, there is no question but that
grand juries, properly organized, prevent much
vexatious litigation, and cause to be pursued some
classes of offenders who escape by the non-action
of some prosecuting attorneys. Criminal justice
ought to be beyond the control of any single
official. Instances are not unknown of prosecuting
attorneys who have not done credit to their offices.
If grand juries were called oftener, justice would
not suffer from it.
During most of the existence of the State, the
entire political control had been held, with respect-
able majorities, by one or the other of the great
parties — the Whigs or Democrats. The majority
of the people had usually been decidedly opposed
to allow^ing the encroachments of slavery beyond
its legal limits, but as decidedly opposed to inter-
fering with its vested rights. The Compromise of
1850 was acquiesced in, although not in all respects
approved. In May, 1854, the Missouri Com-
promise was repealed, and this action aroused
great feeling. Soon after, in the summer of 1854,
a convention was called at Jackson, of delegates
from the Whig and Free Soil parties, which re-
sulted in the formation of the Republican party.
In the election that year, Kinsley S. Bingham was
elected Governor, and held the office two succes-
sive terms, being succeeded by Moses Wisner.
In 1859, Governor Bingham was elected United
564 SLAVERY QUESTION. [Chap. XVI,
States Senator, to succeed Charles E. Stuart.
Zachariah Chandler, who had been Whig can-
didate for Governor in 1852, was elected to the
Senate of the United States, to succeed General
Cass, in 1857. General Cass was about the same
time made Secretary of State under President
Buchanan.
The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Acts was
followed by a series of legislative resolutions,
strongly censuring those who had voted for them,
and insisting on the exclusion of slavery wher-
ever within the control of the United States. At
every session the questions were discussed, and
the expression of opinion was uniform and decided.
The feeling was increasing that trouble might
arise from the slavery question, as the friends of
that institution became aggressive. In 1859, steps
were taken to make the State military system
more effective, by organizing camps of instruction,
and increasing the number of uniformed com-
panies. Various gentlemen of military experience
devoted time to making addresses and visiting
the principal towns, to arouse a military spirit.
Among those particularly energetic in this work was
General Orlando B. Willcox, who, while discreetly
avoiding all reference to the peculiar danger
which he had recognized from his army experience,
was quite successful in awakening popular feeling
in favor of better preparation for such emergen-
cies as might arise. In i860, when the signs of
mischief were plainer, and the public feeling was
Chap. XVI. J DEFAULTING TREASURER WAR. 565
Strongly aroused, Governor Austin Blair, who was
on the same ticket with Mr. Lincoln, obtained a
majority of more than 20,500 over Governor
Barry, who was his only opponent.
The Legislature of 1861, which was very
strongly Republican, met under unfavorable cir-
cumstances for State prosperity. John McKinney,
the outgoing State Treasurer, was found to have
embezzled the public funds, and left the treasury
empty, and liable for large outstanding and press-
ing debts. John Owen, the incoming Treasurer,
at once made arrangements, by the use of his
personal credit, whereby he kept the treasury in
funds until provided from ordinary sources in due
course of business, after a delay of some months.
The Constitutional restraints on borrowing left
no means of raising funds on bonds. This
patriotic course saved the State credit, and enabled
the State soon after, when a war-loan was needed,
to borrow upon fair terms.
The Legislature of 1861 was occupied, during
a large part of the regular session, with the dis-
cussion of the affairs of the Union ; and on the
2d of February passed resolutions asserting the
supremacy of the Union, and its right and duty
to resist treason, and pledging the resources of
the State in the public service. As soon as the
Southern secession ordinances were passed, the
Legislature directed the immediate raising of two
regiments for service.
566 MICHIGAN IN TtTE REBELLION. [Chap. XVI.
Shortly thereafter the war opened by the
attack on Fort Sumter, and Governor Blair at
once raised a loan from private subscribers and
beean to ororanize volunteers, — the first reo^iment
called for by the general government being
speedily equipped under the command of General
Willcox. An extra session was called, which met
in the beginning of May, and passed the neces-
sary laws for raising money and troops. But
before its meeting four regiments of infantry and
a battery of flying artillery had gone into camp,
and the First Regiment left for the seat of war
on the 13th of May, fully armed and equipped,
and was engaged in the unfortunate battle of
Bull Run, where its colonel was wounded and
captured, and afterwards detained in the Richmond
prison as a hostage. From that time on, the
State kept organizing and preparing troops in
advance of the calls, from the United States, and
was well sustained in its efforts. The military
history of the State is honorable, and has been
thoroughly and carefully prepared. It is only
necessary here to say that its troops in the field
numbered 90,747. of whom 67,486 were born in
the United States; 8,887 in Canada; 8,453 in
Great Britain; 4,872 in Germany, and 1,268 in
other foreign dominions ; and that of these 13,405
died in service. It would be invidious to single
out names where all were honorable. The State
furnished her full share of men in high as well
as lesser commands, and her soldiers of all grades
CuAF. XV I.J SEIZURE OF THE PHILO PARSONS 567
won a well deserved respect and renown for
bravery and other good and soldierly qualities.
Our own borders were somewhat annoyed by
the gathering of Southern refugees and agents on
the Canada side of the Detroit River. Reports,
more or less founded in probability, were received
from time to time of projected mischief. On the
19th of September, 1864, the steamboat Philo
Parsons left Detroit for Sandusky, taking on board
at Sandwich and Amherstburg several persons
with what was supposed to be baggage, but
was really a supply of weapons. This expedition
was intended to cooperate with another force
designed to capture the armed steamer Michigan
at Sandusky, to release the rebel prisoners at
Camp Johnson near Sandusky, and then to com-
mit depredations on the lake cities. The designs
on the Michigan having failed, the Parsons was
brought back to the Detroit River, and left at
Sandwich in a sinking condition from various
injuries. The mischief was arrested by timely
action, and the vessel refitted. During the raid
some other captures were made of United States
soldiers and of the steamer Island Queen. On
the failure of the plot at Sandusky, the persons
on board the boats were safely landed, and no
lives were taken. This was the only scheme
which produced any actual damage, unless a few
incendiary fires were set by some of the same
parties, which is not absolutely known.
5d8 governors BLAIR AND CRAPO. [Chap. XVI.
From the opening of the war until the close
of the year 1864, Austin Blair was Governor of
Michigan, and performed his public duties with
zeal and devotion, to the great prejudice of his
private interests. During all that period his whole
time was necessarily given up to the interests of
the country, and almost entirely at his own ex-
pense. The salary of $1,000 — a miserable pittance
at any time — was made by war-prices, and the
depreciation of currency, but a mere fraction of
its ordinary value. The policy which prevents
men of modest means from filling the offices
of vState is not only poor economy, but con-
trary to the cardinal principles of representative
orovernment.
His successor, Governor Crapo, was also a
very conscientious and valuable public servant,
and his careful supervision saved the State from
mismanagement in some of the multitudinous con-
tracts which require almost the eyes of Argus to
watch them. His great business experience and
strict economy and integrity Induced him to give
a degree of personal supervision to the details of
road-building and other outlays, which was more
than any one man could devote to such work
without Injury to himself. His untimely death was
owing to neglect of his health In attending to the
details of public affairs. He no doubt carried
this attention to details to excess, — as other persons
could and should have borne a share of the
burdens. It is not the duty of the chief executive
Chap. XVI.] SUPREME COURT. 569
to perform every variety of public service, and it
is impossible to do it. But that sort of devotion is
not so much to be deprecated, as it is to be
praised, unless it prevents due attention to more
peculiarly personal obligations, which it never did
in Governor Crapo's case. Both he and Governor
Blair were well seconded in most of the State
business by competent heads of departments, and
other assistants.
In the year 1857, i^ pursuance of the Con-
stitution, a separate Supreme Court was provided
for, to be organized on the first of January, 1858.
Its four terms were originally divided between
Detroit and Lansing, but are now held entirely
at Lansing. George Martin was the first chief
justice, and Randolph Manning, Isaac P. Christi-
ancy and James V. Campbell associate justices.
Judge Martin was chief justice until his death, in
December, 1867. After that time the office was
made to fall upon the justice whose term was
next to expire, so as to change every two years.
Judge Manning died on the 31st of August, 1864,
and was succeeded by Thomas M. Cooley, who,
by repeated re-election is still on the bench.
Benjamin F. Graves was elected in the place of
Judge Martin, and is still in office by re-election.
Judge Christiancy was elected to the United States
Senate, in January, 1875, ^^^ Isaac Marston was
chosen as his successor. Judge Campbell is yet
a member of the court.
This relieved the circuit judges of appellate
duties. The circuits have been divided repeatedly
570 BINGHAM. HOWARD. FERRY. [Chai- XVI.
and increased in number to twenty-one. The
Upper Peninsula has been brought .within the
circuit system. In 1859, provision was made
there for county prosecuting attorneys, and the
office of district attorney aboHshed. By some cu-
rious manoeuvre, the act whose title was " An
Act to abolish the office of District Attorney for
the Upper Peninsula, and provide for the election
of Prosecuting Attorneys of the several counties
therein," while by the two earliest sections it
made provision for the prosecuting attornies, con-
tained a third section declaring that the office of
district attorney should not be abolished. As
under the Constitution no part of an act can be
repugnant to its title, this created a muddle,
which seems to have been supposed to need
further legislation. It 1864, another law was
passed abolishing the office without ambiguity.
Governor Bingham was elected to the United
States Senate in 1859, and died in office in 1861.
In 1862, his place was filled by Jacob M. Howard,
who was succeeded, in 1871, by Thomas W.
Ferry, the present presiding officer of the Senate.
Mr. Howard was a man of great force and intel-
lectual resources, and was second to none ol his
Senatorial associates in the qualities desirable lor
his position. To vigorous and manly eloquence
he united habits of laborious and profound
research, and tenacity of purpose. His ability
in the arraying of facts and discussion of evidence
has seldom been equalled, and his great powers
of reasoning were made more effective by a style
Cmap, XVI.) SENATOR CHANDLER. GOVERNOR CRAPO. 571
which was weighty without losing its vivacity, and
poHshed and enriched with learning, while entirely
free from meretricious ornament. His death was
a loss to the whole country. His colleague Mr.
Chandler, the present Secretary of the Interior,
obtained credit for his Senatorial services, espe-
cially during the war, and was twice re-elected.
The principal political occurrences during Gov-
ernor Crapo's time were the attempted revision
of the Constitution, and the contest which he
carried on against the dangerous and unconstitu-
tional attempts of the Legislature to authorize
railroads to be subsidized by county and other
municipal aid and taxation. The early experience
of the State had induced the framers of the Con-
stitution of 1850 to peremptorily confine the bus-
iness of building works of internal improvement
to private enterprise ; but for a time there
appeared to be a notion that railroads could not
be too dearly purchased, whether capable or not
of any remunerative use, and contractors and
builders, who were the only persons really bene-
fitted in many cases, endeavored to saddle their
schemes on the public treasuries. The plan was
not only illegal, but as dangerous as most illegal
schemes always turn out. The collapse of a
majority of the secondary railroads has shown on
a small scale the utter ruin that would have be-
fallen the people if these attempts had gone as
far as it was desired to drive them. These
schemes were pushed through the Legislature
572
CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION. [Chai>. XVI.
against the opposition of the governors, who
were called on to consider them, and the execu-
tive objections were sustained by the Supreme
Court, which held the laws void. Every constitu-
tional amendment which has sought to validate
them has been rejected.
A Constitutional Convention was held in May
1867, and its labors lasted through the summer.
It was composed of able men of both parties, and
its work was done carefully. The proposed con-
stitution contained several new provisions, upon
which there had been no popular agreement. It
was defeated by an enormous majority, composed
in great measure of the aggregate of the oppo-
nents of single parts of the instrument, which were
not all obnoxious to the same objectors. The
same fate has befallen every attempt to submit
amendments together and not separately. It is
entirely manifest that the faults of the present
Constitution are found in some of its details and
specific provisions, and not in its general plan.
Single amendments have passed and will probably
pass hereafter on their own merits. But every
one can now see that the people are not disposed
to allow a good amendment to carry through one
which they disapprove. Logrolling and swapping
measures are more easily carried through select
bodies, than through a popular election.
The last attempt at revision was at the extra
session of 1874. A commission selected by the
Governor had sat during the previous year to
Chap. XVI. J AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE GRANTS. 573
devise amendments. They prepared a series of
articles which amounted in effect to a revised con-
stitution. The members were well chosen, with-
out distinction of party, and many, if not most of
their suggestions, were generally approved. Others
were not as well received. Their work was
adopted with some changes, by the Legislature,
and submitted to the people as a whole, except
as to a small portion voted on separately. This
was also decisively rejected. In addition to other
objections, which were probably the fatal ones,
there was a feeling among many that the Legis-
lative function of proposing amendments did not
extend to framing a revision of the whole con-
stitution, or of considerable parts of it, and that a
constitutional convention should be representative
and not appointed. Among other propositions,
one to give the right of voting to women, was
presented separately, and defeated by a large
majority.
In 1863, the United States made large grants
to the several States for agricultural and military
education. The State of Michigan accepted the
grant, and applied it in aid of the existing Agri-
cultural College. This was thereby put on a
better footing; and has become a useful institu-
tion, with a promise of more utility in the future,
as the value of the necessary preliminary experi-
ments becomes more thoroughly tested.
In 1859, the business of making salt began to
assume importance. The discovery of rich wells,
574 SALT AND MINERAL SPRINGS. FORESTS. [Chap. XVI
and the economy of connecting the work with the
steam saw-mills, thus economising labor and fuel,
led to the creation of a very extensive industry
particularly on the Saginaw River. In some of
the borings the discovery of mineral springs, valu-
able for curative properties, has led to still more
profitable results, and opened pleasant places of
resort.
The extension of roads has facilitated the busi-
ness of lumbering, and the country is being rap-
idly despoiled of its pine and hardwood timber.
The frequent prevalence of extensive fires has
furnished some reason for the voluntary destruc-
tion, for lumber, ol what might be otherwise lost.
The year 1871, which witnessed the burning of
Chicago, was peculiarly fatal to the northern
woods, and immense tracts were rendered value-
less, or greatly diminished in value by the fires.
The rapid settlement of the Lower Peninsula has
led to the removal of woods from the greater
part of its southerly moiety, and the effect on
climate and streams is very marked, and prejudi-
cial. The moisture which was once retained by
the vegetation and shade, and tempered the air,
now runs off rapidly, and without soaking into the
ground. Streams have dwindled and disappeared,
and the country often suffers from drought, while
it is believed to be much more exposed than
formerly to extreme cold.
Alter the war was over, and when the fever
of speculation began to abate, the State setded
Chac. XVI.] PROGRESS. NEW CAPITOL. 575
down again to iquiet ways. Within the last ten
years the pubHc interest has been more and more
directed to things of permanent importance, and
valuable executive suggestions have been carried
out in the broad and liberal spirit which prompted
them. Much more attention has been paid to
education and philanthropy. New asylums have
been planned, the University and other schools
have been aided, prisons have been improved and
remodelled, and progress has been made in the
highest work of civilization. The State has be-
come populous and wealthy, and able to carry out
any proper schemes.
In .1871, preparation was made for building a
permanent Capitol. After much examination and
reflection plans were adopted and contracts let.
The corner stone was laid in 1873. A superin-
tending board, consisting of Messrs. Shearer,
Chapoton and Grosvenor, have had constant super-
vision of the work, which will be finished in 1877.
Mr. Myers, the architect, and Messrs. Osburn, the
contractors, have planned and built thus far a
beautiful and satisfactory building, in which no un-
sound material has been placed, and into which
all the funds appropriated have honestly entered.
When other communities have been so badly
cheated in such enterprises, it is certainly worth
recording that Michigan has been served with
strict integrity.
The poverty of the State for many years made
it necessary to use more than common economy
576
STATE LIBRARY. [Chap. XVI.
In all Its expenditures. This necessity not only
prevented the earlier building of a Capitol, but
the accumulation of an adequate library. Some
of the earlier purchases of books were very
judicious and valuable, but neither space nor
means existed for placing the library in proper
condition. Since It has become certain that books
if purchased will be preserved and made accessible,
a great change has taken place, and the present
collection Is already assuming importance. By a
careful system of exchanges, the Law Library has
become very complete in American Reports, and
fairly supplied with other English and American
publications, and Is constantly improving. The
General Library is also advancing rapidly. Gover-
nor Baldwin while in office ventured upon what
was then the untried experiment, of appointing a
lady, Mrs. Harriet A. Tenney, to be State Libra-
rian. Her nomination was cheerfully ratified, and
the choice has been abundantly justified by the
result. The neatness and care with which the
library room and its contents have been arranged
and kept, and the quiet and decorum prevailing,
are In themselves a great advantage, not always
found in State libraries. The Librarian has shown
a thorough knowledge of books and their selec-
tion, and an enthusiastic desire to make her charge
a literary treasury. A department of American
antiquities, and valuable relics has also been
planned, and some collections already made of
documents, pictures, and other things of historical
Chap. XVI.] FALSE ECONOMY. 577
value, not least of which is the Roll of Honor of
the Michigan Soldiers who died in the Rebellion.
The wisdom of choosing a competent woman to
such an office has been recotrnised in some other
libraries in the State, which have also been for-
tunate in securing the right persons to act for
them. No one doubts that such places furnish
appropriate and legitimate scope for feminine
tact and accomplishments.
There is one matter in which the State has
no cause for self-gratulation. The Constitution of
1850, instead of leaving official salaries to be de-
termined by the Legislature, as changing circum-
stances might require, fixed the pay of all the
principal executive and judicial officers permanent-
ly, and at very low rates. There are few il any
of these persons who receive as large pay as their
own subordinates, or who can afford to devote
their whole time to their official duties. It is re-
markable that this state of things has not led to
greater mischiefs than have befallen the common-
wealth from it. Since Mr. McKinney's time the
ti*easury has been in the hands of competent and
wealthy men, whose services have been practically
almost gratuitous, but have been faithful and valu-
able. The Auditor General's office has been, so
far as is known, entirely above suspicion. The
management of public lands has on some occa-
sions been questioned. Frauds have been com-
mitted against the State by persons purchasing
lands, and it has been imagined that they were
37
578
LEGfSLATIVE DISCRETION. [Chap. XVI.
not committed without the misconduct of some
one in the department. The impeachment of Mr.
Edmunds, the Commissioner, in 1872, while it was
not followed by his own conviction upon charges
of crime, indicated that there had been a course
of business in the office which was not conducted
on proper business principles, and which needed,
as it has received, amendment. The penurious
system which prevailed prevented that thorough
and systematic management imperatively required
by so important a branch of the public service,
and the property squandered very much exceeds
the money saved. In general the incumbents
have rendered good service without adequate pay.
But it is not good policy to make it difficult for
a faithful officer to hold office without great per-
sonal loss. Where the fixing of salaries has been
left to the Legislature, they have never been ex-
travagant. The disposition to suspect Legislative
bodies of liability to sinister influences in such
matters is absurd. If corruption is dreaded, and
if they are not to be trusted where it is possible,
they may as well be abolished at once. The
general power of legislation affords infinitely more
room for misconduct than that which relates to a
few offices. When the representatives of the
people are to be presumed unfit for their respon-
sibilities, republican government must cease. It
cannot exist without honesty, and it must be pre-
sumed, as it is true, that honesty is usually to be
found. The wisest constitutional restrictions are
CiiAP. XVI.] PROGRESS. 579
intended to prevent haste and misjudgment, and
honestly intended encroachments tempted by pe-
culiar circumstances. They seldom, if ever, are
designed to indicate a distrust in personal integrity.
It is very much to be hoped that the people will
soon become convinced that honest work should
be honesdy paid, and that a generous confidence,
rationally guarded, is safer as well as more cred-
itable than perpetual distrust.
This year, of so much interest to the people
of the United States, finds Michigan furnishing a
hopeful illustration of the results of the experiment
made a hundred years ago. She was then
governed by martial law, with few people, and but
one civil settlement. For twenty years after the
Declaration of Independence, she remained under
British control, and was intended to be reserved
as a refuge for savages and a haunt of beasts of
the chase. A few years later she fell again for a
short time under the same governance, as much
to the surprise of the captors, as to the disgust
and rage of the surrendered. But with the re-
capture came the beginning of progress. Multi-
tudes of the Revolutionary patriots and of their
children came westward, to enjoy the inheritance
earned by the struggle for independence. The
laws and customs of the new land were fresh
copies of those of the older colonies, changed
only where change was needed. In every village
churches and schools stood foremost in the estima-
tion of the people, and ignorance, idleness and
immorality, were under the ban.
580 PAST AND I^ESENT. [Chai-. XVI.
The beginning of our existence as a- State was
rendered unfortunate by the mistaken notion that
wealth and capital could be made up out of con-
fidence, instead of patient industry. The land was
rich and lay directly in the pathway to the further
west, where the unerring instincts of our wander-
ing race have always led them in search of em-
pire. The future was sure, but too uncertain in
date to be wisely discounted. No one then
dreamed of the shortening of time and space by
improved railways and telegraphs, nor was there
any confidence in the quick passage of the ocean
by steam, whereby it has become possible to
crowd and multiply immigration faster than the
country can absorb it. And yet in a vague way
the hopes of the new settlements kept up with all
the possibilities.
Many people are yet living who remember
well the whole course of the Territory. Very
many more are familiar with all the fortunes of
the State. The population which would not have
crowded a large village has now extended beyond
a million and a third. The improved lands ex-
ceed five and a half millions of acres, and there
are more than 113,000 farms occupied almost
entirely by owners and not by tenants. Besides
agricultural products, the products of industry in-
clude lumber, copper and iron, and all the shapes
in which they may be wrought, as well as sugar,
fish, salt, and an infinite variety of manufactured
articles. The railroads in the State exceed 3,700
Chap. XVI.] CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOM. 581
miles, at a cost of more than 140 millions of
dollars, in view of which the five million loan,
which was such an incubus on the State, appears
very insignificant. The ordinary school houses re-
present a value of ^^9,000,000, and the annual
school expenditures approach $3,500,000. The
bonded debt of the State is less than $1,600,000
— less than $1.20 for each person.
During the whole period of the State existence
there has been unbroken peace with her neigh-
bors, and, since her admission into the Union, no
quarrel with any other State. No capital sentence
has been executed during this time. There has
been no general famine, and no very fatal epidemic.
Political rancor has not degenerated into treason
or sedition, and serious riots have been rare and
confined with narrow bounds. Only one State
officer has been convicted of malversation in office,
and only one more has been put upon his trial.
The people are thoroughly American in their
habits and sympathies, attached to their State and
attached to the Union. They have gained their
prosperity by constitutional liberty, and they re-
cognise in the preservation and enforcement of
constitutions and laws their best safeguards
against the dangers that beset a civilized com-
monwealth.
THE END.
INDEX
Abhott, Edward, Commander at Vin-
cennes, 173.
Abbott, James, on committee of tra-
ders to prevent sales of liquor, 164;
James, his son, Judge of Common
IMeas, 251.
Abbott, Robert, Auditor General, 348 ;
State Treasurer, 399.
Absolute system of French government,
5, 77, 171 ; of English after the con-
quest of Canada, 132, 156.
Acadians, 108, 117.
Adams, armed vessel captured at De-
troit at surrender, 281; recaptured
as the '' Detroit," 336.
Aigremont, Clerambaut d', reports on
Detroit, 61, 65, 68, 75.
Aikins, Captain In British army, be-
friends American prisoners, 349.
Akansas, tribe visited by Joliet, 30.
Albany traders at Detroit, 116.
Allen, Lieutenant Colonel, killed at
Frenchtown, 338, 342.
Allouez, Father, 12.
Amherst, Sir Jeffrey, 116, [29.
Amikoue or Beaver Indians, at Beaver
Islands, 547.
Ancrum, Major William, commanding
at Detroit : dealings with the Mo-
ravians, 187.
Anderson, Colonel John, Michigan of-
ficer, 242, 305.
Anderson, Lieutenant John, at surren-
der of Detroit, 300, 309.
Angell, James B (LL.D.), President
of University, 554.
Anioton, an Indian chief, 102.
Anthon, Dr. George Christian, receives
grant from Pontiac, 120, 140.
L'Arbre Croche, an Indian settlement,
94; good character of people, 94,
119, 517.
Armistice in War of 1612, 323, 325.
Askin, John, befriends the Moravians,
187; engages in plan to secure con-
trol of Michigan, 199; retains Brit-
ish allegiance, 200.
Askin, John, Junior, at capture of
Mackinaw, 283.
Asylums, 515, 531, 574.
Atasson or Ottason, Schiettiin's name,
201 n.
Atiochiarontiong, (one of the forms of
Taochiarontiong, or Teuchsa Gron-
die), a Huron name tor the region
about Detroit and Lake ?'rie, 37, 48,
56.
Atvvater, Reuben, Territorial Secretary,
238 ; warns Hull of danger, 276.
Audrain, Peter, a public officer at De-
troit, 350-1.
584
INDEX.
Baby, Colonel Francis, of Canada,
195 ; ransoms American prisoners,
349-
Baggattaway, an Indian game of ball,
used as a device to enter Mackinaw
in 1763, 121; attempted at Detroit,
124.
Bailey, Lewis E., his horse, 448.
Bagley, John J., Governor"^ of Michi-
gan, 545, 556
Baker, Ensign, story of his adventures
after Battles of Frenchtown, 348.
Baldwin, Henry P., Governor of Mich-
igan, 545, 556, 561, 576.
Ball-play at Shawnee village between
Indians and squaws, 210.
Bank of Detroit chartered, but annulled
by Congress, 244.
Bank of Michigan chartered, 400.
Banking system of Michigan carried
to excess, 489-492, 513.
Barclay, Captain, defeated by Perry,
367-
Barre, Governor de la, friendly to set-
tlements, 41 ; controversy with Don-
gan, 42.
Barrow, Captain, of British army, be-
friends American prisoners, 349.
Barry, John S , Governor, 515, 531,545.
Barstow, Samuel, 512.
Bassett, Major Henry, British Com-
mander, 149, 150, 152.
Bates, Frederick, Territorial Judge,
237; Secretary and Governor of
Missouri, 239.
Battle of Bloody Run, 129; of Tippe-
canoe, 260 ; of River Raisin, 338,
344; of Fort Meigs, 357; of Fort
Stephenson, 360 ; of Lake Erie, 367 ;
of the Thames, 371.
Bayard, Major Robert, British Com-
mander, establishes courts, 141, 142.
Beauharnois, Charles, Marquis de.
Governor General, grants lands at
Detroit, 88, 89, 90.
Beauvais de Tilly, goes with Tonty to
Seneca campaign, 45.
Beavers in Upper Canada and Michi-
gan, 48, 58
Beaver Island, Mormon kingdom there,
547, 549-
Bellestre (or Belletre), Francois Marie
Piquote de : his property in De-
troit, 60, 63, 145 ; accompanies In-
dian chiefs to Quebec, and returns
with De la Richardie, loi ; last
French Commander at Detroit, 109,
no.
Bellefontaine, or Springwells, 297.
Belle He, above Detroit, formerly He a
Ste. Claire, and He aux Cochons,
124; Fisher murdered there by In-
dians, 125; granted to George Mc-
Dougall, 170.
Beneworth, James, engraver, 489.
Biddle, Major John : contributor to
historical sketches, 422 ; delegate to
Congress, 398; candidate for Senate,
469.
Bigot, Intendant : his misconduct and
conviction, 92.
Big Siiake joins Harrison, 362.
Bingham, Kinsley S., Governor, 515,
545, 563; Senator, 563-4, 570.
Bird, Captain Henry, makes incursion
into Kentucky, 181.
Black Hawk War, 436.
Black Hoof joins Harrison, 362.
Blair, Austin, Governor, 545, 565, 568
Blood, Dr., wounded at Detroit, 300.
Bloody Run, massacre of, 129.
Bluejacket, Shawnee chief: his village
and doings there, 210.
Bois-blanc Island of Detroit River, 59;
headquarters of Hurons, 99; mission
removed to Sandwich, 10 1 ; dispute
as to its nationality, 228 ; Tecum-
seh's headquarters, 369 ; forest re-
moved in Patriot War, 511.
Boish6bert, Captain, French Comman-
INDEX
585
dant, favors settlement at Detroit,
89, 90 ; authorizes mill to be built,
ib.
Boone, Daniel, captive at Detroit, 175 ;
attacked by British, ih.
Boundary disputes : on the lakes, 2 ;
at Bois-blanc, 229 ; on southern bor-
der, 209, 231, 433, 444-448, 449-463,
470-477.
Bounties to industries, 493.
Bounty lands : Michigan reported un-
fit for them, 379, 380.
Bourgmont, Commander of Detroit in
Cadillac's absence, is attacked by
Indians, 67 n.
Bradstreet, Colonel, visits Detroit and
makes treaty, 130, 131.
Brady, Fort, at Sault Ste. Marie : Cass
obtains Indian cession for, 404 ; in-
terferes with ship canal, 502.
Brandy traffic at Mackinaw and De-
troit, 64, 65, 85.
Brant encouraged by the British against
the Americans, 191, 257.
Brevoort, (Major and Commodore)
Henry B., 366, 368.
British conquer Canada and occupy
Detroit, 109, iii; early endeavors
to get a foothold in Michigan, 29, 39,
42, 43, 51 ; Roseboom and McGre-
gory expeditions captured, 43 ; Iro-
quois cession, 56 ; govern Michigan
by martial law, 132, 156, 162; pass
Quebec Act, 153 ; send expeditions
from Detroit in Revolution, 172, 174,
181 ; retain posts in violation of
treaty, 189; excite Indians against
Americans, 192; give up the posts
in 1776, 197; subsidize Indians, 257,
401, 406; take Detroit, 302; occu-
pation and re-surrender, Chap. XII.
Brock, General Sir Isaac, takes De-
troit, 301 ; is knighted, 336 ; killed,
ib.
Brown, Dr. Wm., 350, 351, 356.
Brown County, 388.
Brownstown, battle of, 287, 289.
Brush, Colonel Elijah, Attorney Gen-
eral, 219; mystifies the court, ib.;
colonel of militia, 242 ; commands
regiment during War of 1812, 321 ;
aids prisoners, 350; banished by
Proctor, 356.
Brush, Captain Henry, endeavors to
take supplies to Detroit, 287, 296 ;
refuses to surrender, 305 ; vindicated
by court martial, 306.
Buckongahelas, a Delaware chief: af-
fairs at his village, 210.
Buffaloes common in Michigan, 1 13.
Bull, George H., botanist, 4S8.
Burnet, Judge Jacob, 210.
Burr's conspiracy leads to special leg-
islation, 264.
Burt, William A., inventor of the solar
compass, 527-8.
Burtis, Captain John, introduces horse
and steam ferries, 413, 414.
Bushlopers or bushrangers, 14, 16, 52.
Cadarachqui or Cadaraqui, a name
y of Lake Ontario, 52, 56.
Cadillac, Antoine de la Motte, Lord of
Bouaquat and Mont Desert, a prom-
inent officer, 50; desires to fortify
the Strait, 5 1 ; visits France and ob-
tains authority, 52,53; builds Fort
Pontchartrain, 54, 59 ; career at De-
troit, Chap, v.; his character, 64;
38
made Governor of Louisiana, 76 ;
descendants, 80.
Cadotte, Monsieur, interpreter at Sault
Ste. Marie, in.
Caledonia, British man-of-war, captur-
ed at Fort Erie, 281, 336; used in
attack on Mackinaw, 283 ; one of
Perry's fleet, 367.
Calli^res, Louis Hector de. Governor
5S6
INDEX.
of New France, 56 ; confers with
Iroquois about Detroit, 55 ; unjust
to Cadillac, 67.
Campau, Joseph, occupies place of
Cadillac's house, 62.
Campau, Charles, builds water-mill, 90.
Campbell, Donald, Captain and Major
in 60th Royal Americans, first Brit-
ish Commander of Detroit, 116;
visits Pontiac's camp, 127; murder-
ed by Saginaw chief Wasson, 128.
Campbell, John, Colonel, and Com-
mander at Detroit, took part in
Croghan's negotiations with Indians,
139; repaired fort, 140; levied
taxes, 141.
Campbell, James V., Judge, 569 ; law
professor, 555.
Canada or New France, included Mich-
igan, 3 ; conquered by Great Britain,
109 ; governed by royal proclama-
tion, 132 ; brought under Quebec
Act, 153, 155; divided into Upper
and Lower Canada, 194 ; invaded by
Hull, 278; disaffection caused by
proclamation, 279, 321, 322, 326;
evacuated by Hull, 290 ; invaded by
Harrison, 269.
Canada Company control trade at De-
troit. 66.
Cannon captured in Revolution, re-
captured at Detroit, and again re-
taken at the Thames, 336.
Canoes : their size fixed for trading
purposes, 74, 401.
Capital punishment inflicted by Judge
Dejean, 166; abolished, 524.
Capital of Michigan removed to Lan-
sing, 533-
Capitol building at Detroit, 410; at
Lansing, 575.
Carantouan, whether the same as Kar-
ontaen, 37.
Carheil, Father, missionary at Mack-
inaw, 64.
Carignan Regiment, 27.
Carleton, Sir Guy, (Lord Dorchester),
157; establishes courts, 159; makes
appointments at Detroit, 161 ; gives
land to tory refugees, 194 ; encour-
ages Indians, 191, 194.
Carts, fashionable vehicles in Detroit,
421.
Cass, Lewis, (Colonel and General) :
meeting with Judge Sibley, 218; el-
ected colonel of volunteers, 274 ;
defeats British at Canard River, but
is prevented by Hull from moving
on Maiden, 279 ; sent away with Mc-
Arthur before surrender of Detroit,
297 ; reports facts at Washington,
329 ; promoted, 330 ; in Harrison's
army, 371 ; his brigade left at Sand-
wich, ib.; volunteer aid in Battle of
the Thames, 372 ; Governor of
Michigan, 376; his administration,
Chap. XIII.; advanced political
views, 392, 413 ; expedition to sour-
ces of the Mississippi, 400; gallant
conduct at Sault Ste. Marie, 403 ;
expedition with Colonel McKenney,
414 ; made Secretary of War, 419 ;
literary and social surroundings, 420 ;
Senator, 536 ; Secretary of State, 564.
Catholepistemiad, 385.
Cattle at Detroit, 61, 86.
Cavelier, {sec La Salle), Monsieur,
brother of La Salle, defrauds the
Chevalier de Tonty, 46.
Celoron, Commander at Detroit, 93, 99.
Census of Canada. 69; of Michigan,
234, 442.
Chabert de Joncaire, the Chevalier
Frangois, influential with the Sene-
cas, 114; suspected by British, 147 ;
delegate from Wayne County in As-
sembly of Northwest Territory, 114,
219.
Chacornacle, a lieutenant of Cadillac,
54.
Chambers, Major, sent by Brock to
raise forces to relieve Maiden, and
fails to obtain them, 279, 287, 322.
INDEX
587
Champlain, said to have known the
Strait, lo.
Chancery, Court of, 480; abolished,
480, 522.
Chandler, Zachariah, Senator, 564, 571.
Chaplain, duties of, devolved on mili-
itary officers, 179, 204.
Chapoton, a French citizen, communi-
cates with Pontiac, 127.
Charlevoix, Father, the historian, 4 ;
visits Detroit, 86.
Chaudiere, a name of Lake Ste. Claire,
38-
Chegoimegon, mission at, 12.
Chemin du Ronde, the road next to the
pickets at Detroit, 60.
Chene, Captain Isidore, of Detroit, at-
tempts to capture Daniel Boone, 175.
Chicago massacre, 293, 295, 305.
Chiery, a monopolist at Detroit, 88.
Chillicothe, made capital of Northwest
Territory, 222 ; discontent and riots,
223.
China, supposed to be accessible, 21.
Chipman, Henry, Territorial Judge,
410, 435.
Chippewa (or Ojibway) Indians, fiercer
than Ottawas, 119; destroy the
Mackinaw garrison, 121 ; allow Mo-
ravians to settle at Clinton River,
184.
Cholera at Detroit, 437-8, 441.
Christiancy, Isaac P., Judge, 569 ;
Senator, ib.
Churches organized, 396-7; Sail.;
Anne's, 81, 255, 398, 387.
Cincinnati, capital of Northwest Ter-
ritory, 222.
Clark, George Rogers, captures Vin-
cennes and Kaskaskia, 174, 176;
sends Governor Hamilton and others
prisoners to Virginia, 176.
Clay, General Green, at Fort Meigs,
359-
Clinton River, formerly Huron, 184,
412. ,
Colbert, offers rewards for discovery,
29 ; checks clerical powers, ib.
Golden, Cadwallader, plans against
Detroit, 108.
Colonial absolutism, 5 ; contrasted
with common-law system, 106, 134,
171 ; colonial industry encouraged
by France, 106.
Combs, General Leslie, captain and
scout at Fort Meigs, 358; runs the
gauntlet, ib.
Commanders at Detroit : their names,
93 ; their privileges, 87, 97.
Commission of charities, 561.
Compiled Laws, 542.
Concessions of land, 71, 79, 90.
Conges or trade licenses, 25, 69,
Connor, Richard, with Moravians, 187.
Connor, Henry, an interpreter, 187.
Constantine, Father, a missionary,
killed, 67 71.
Constitution of Michigan of 1835, 462,
538; of 1850, 539, 540, 544, 571,
572.
Constitutional commission and its fail-
ure, 573.
Contencinau, Jean, executed at Detroit
by order of Dejean, 166,
Conti, Princess of, a patroness of
1'onty, 33.
Convention to form constitution, 462 ;
to consider conditions of admission,
475; Frost-bitten, 477; second con-
stitutional, 539 ; third constitutional,
572.
Cooley, Thomas M., Judge, 569, 555;
compiles Statutes, 542.
Copper mines on Lake Superior, 147,
148, 529.
Corporation laws, 538.
Corrigenda: page 197, line 21, for
"administration" read "admiration";
page 326, line 8, for 'Messon" read
"lessen."
Council of Northwest Territory, 208 ;
of Michigan, i, 409, 411-13, 416.
588
1 K D E X.
County of Wayne established, 205 ;
the only county until Cass's admin-
istration, 262 ; re-established, 382 ;
counties organized, 382, 383, 388,
407, 433, 547, 570.
County commissioners, 389, 509 ;
county officers made elective, 413 ;
county systems, 425, 509.
Coureurs de bois, or bushrangers, 14,
15, 25, 40, 50, 52.
Courtcmanche, a French officer, 39.
Courts : none under the French, 78 ;
created by military commanders,
141 ; in Upper Canada and Michigan
under the British, 159, 161, 194; in
Northwest Territory, 205 ; in Mich-
igan Territory, 240, 250, 262, 410,
463 ; in the State of Michigan,
Chaps. XV. and \M I. passim.
Craig, Sir James, Governor General of
Canada, warns the United States
against Tecumseh, 259 ; sends John
Henry to intrigue in New England
for disunion, 259.
Crapo, Henry H., Governor, 541, 568,
571-
Crary, Isaac E,, first Representative,
465.
Crawford County (Wisconsin), 388.
Croghan, Colonel George, British
agent, 120, 139.
Croghan, Major George, heroic defence
of Fort Stephenson, 360.
Cuillerier, Alexis, wrongly convicted,
and vindicated, 125.
Currency, paper and miscellaneous ar-
ticles, 262, 384-5.
Curtish, Captain, of the British army,
befriends American prisoners, 349.
D
Dalltba, James, Captain of Artillery,
prevented from firing on the British
batteries by Hull, 296-7.
Dalzell (or Dalyell), Captain, arrives
at Detroit, 129; killed at Bloody
Run, 130.
Davis, Jefferson, custodian of Black
Hawk, 436.
Dejean, Philip, appointed Judge, 141,
162; condemns prisoners to death,
166; peculiar relations with Gover-
nor Hamilton, 170; captured at Vin-
cennes and made close prisoner in
Virginia, 176.
Delaware Indians, friendly to United
States, 260.
Delegates to Congress, 398.
Delietto, Sieur, commanding at Fort
St. Louis, 47, 81.
DeMuy, Commander at Detroit, 93, 97.
Denison, Elizabeth and Scipio, held as
slaves, 246.
Denny, James, Major of Volunteers in
Hull's army, 274.
Denonville, Governor of New France,
asserts title to Michigan, 42.
Department of the Marine, contains
many records, 5.
DePeyster, Arent Schuyler, (Major and
Colonel), Commander at Mackinaw :
sends aid to Hamilton, 174; suc-
ceeds to command at Detroit, 178 et
seq.\ character, 179; friend of Burns
and commander of his regiment, ib.
Dequindre, Fontenay, has titres de
noblesse, 212.
Dequindre, Antoine, Captain in Legion,
at Monguagon, 321 ; receives thanks
of the Legislature, ib.
Deschaillons de St. Ours, Commander
at Detroit, 93.
Deserters kidnapped by British officers,
246.
Desnoyelles, Commander at Detroit,
93-
Desnoyers, Peter J., banished by Proc-
tor, 356.
Desnoyers, Peter, State Treasurer, ib.
INDEX.
689
Detroit : Le Detroit, or the Strait, dis-
covered early, lo ; passed by Joliet,
23 ; visited by Dollier and Galinee,
ib.\ by La Salle in the Griffin, 35 ;
Teuchsa Grondie, Taochiarontiong,
Karontaen, 37; fortified by DuLuth
at Fort St. Joseph, 43 ; Tonty's ren-
dezvous, 44, 45 ; capture of English
parties, 45 ; efforts of English and
Iroquois to control the passage, 48 ;
place of city known as Wawyachte-
nok or Waweatanong, 5 1 ; Cadillac
authorized to establish a town, 53,
54; ^ort Pontchartrain, 54, 59; af-
fairs under Cadillac, Chap. V.; Brit-
ish intrigues with Iroquois and ces-
sion, 56 ; Indian attacks, 67 ; siege
of 1712, 81; projected massacre of
1747, loi ; supplies furnished during
English war, 108; fort enlarged, 107 ;
surrendered to British, 109 ; descrip-
tion, 112, 212, 224; new fort built
(Fort Lernoult), 178; American oc-
cupation, 197, 205 ; business and
social condition, 210, 212, 226, 254,
420 ; incorporated, 222 ; burned in
1805, and new plans adopted, 240;
stockaded in 1807, 248; affairs of
War of 1812, Chaps. XL and XIL;
social affairs under General Cass,
420; cholera, 437; schools, 512;
capital removed from, 512, 533.
Detroit : armed vessel captured by El-
liott, 336; another by Perry, 367.
Detroit Gazette established, 384.
Dickson, Robert, British Indian agent,
283, 358.
Disloyalty to the United States in up-
per country, 201, 286.
Districts for judicial purposes created
by Lord Dorchester, 159; by Gover-
nor Hull, 241, 262.
Dodemead, John, receives Indian
grants, 196; his house used for court
sessions, 219; court under duress
there, ib.
Dodge, ColoneJ Henry, in Black Hawk
War, 436.
Dollier de Casson, with Galinee and
LaSalle, on exploring expedition, 23 ;
pass through Detroit River and de-
stroy a stone idol, ib.
Dongan, Governor, of New York, dis-
putes with Governor of New P'rance
about northwestern trade, 13, 42, 43 ;
sends expeditions under Roseboom
and McGregory, 44.
Dorchester, {see Carleton).
Doty, James Duane, accompanies Gen-
eral Cass in 1820, 401 ; Territorial
Judge, 409.
Douglass, Columbus C, assistant in
geological corps, 488.
Dousman, Captain Michael : his course
at capture- of Mackinaw, 284, 286.
Drummond's Island, held by British
after awarded to the United States,
and used as rendezvous for Indian
payments, 401, 406.
Dubuisson, Commander at Detroit in
siege of 1 712, 81, 82.
Dudley, Colonel, at Fort Meigs, 358.
Duelling punished, 405.
Dugue, a lieutenant of Cadillac, 54.
DuLuth, Daniel Grisolon, an eminent
French leader, 40, et .seq.; goes to
France to vindicate himself, 41 ;
builds fort near Lake Huron (Fort
St. Joseph), 43 ; at capture of Mc-
Gregory, 45 ; cousin of Tonty, 47.
Durantaye (de la), a distinguished of-
ficer, commanding at Mackinaw, 40,
42; captures Roseboom, 44.
Dutch cede New York to England, 29,
590
INDEX
Eaton, John H., Secretary of War,
429 ; contemplated as Governor of
of Michigan, ib.
Education : Cadillac desires to provide
for It at Detroit, 70, 71 ; Vaudreuil
favors it, 107 ; provided for by Or-
dinance of 1787, 208; land set apart
for it in Northwest Territory, 220;
school and University grants, 230,
415; Michigan University chai'tered,
385, 407, 481 ; Normal School, 532 ;
Agricultmal College, 543-573; free
schools in Detroit, 512; generally,
543; State Public School, 561.
Election uf delegates to General As-
sembly of Northwest Territory, 219;
of Legislative Council, 409, 413, 416 ;
of Constitutional Convention, 443 ;
first State election, 465.
Elliott, Jesse D., (Lieutenant, after-
wards Commodore), captures British
vessels Caledonia and Detroit, 336 ;
takes part in Battle of Lake Erie,
367-8.
Elliott, Colonel Matthew, (British In-
dian agent), endeavors to enlist De-
lawares for the British, 182; tampers
with American Indians, 195, 257 ;
endeavors to recover fugitive slaves,
247 ; ransoms American prisoners
from Indians, 349.
Elliott, Captain, (son of Matthew),
summons Brush to surrender, 305 ;
at Frenchtown, 344; promises to
Captain Hart, 345.
English : rivals of France, 28 ; send
out western expeditions, 42, 43 ;
charter Hudson's Bay Company, 28 ;
emissaries at Detroit, 67, 77, 81 ; to
be prevented from reaching the Ohio,
99, 104; war with France, 108; un-
popular with Indians, 115, 118, 136.
Erie Canal, an important agent in
western settlement, 2, 412.
Erie, Lake: its importance, 41, 42;
various names, 57 ; the Gritilin the
first vessel on it, 33 ; Battle of, 367 ;
Walk-in-the- Water, the first steam-
boat, 395.
Etherington, George, (Captain and
Major), commanding at Mackinaw
in 1763, 118; duped by Indian ball-
play, 121; capture and adventures,
122.
Evidence, rules of, modified, 523,
Exploring expeditions: sawt to find
the South Sea, 21, 29 ; LaSalle and
St. Lusson, 21 ; Joliet, Marquette,
30 ; Dollier and Galinee, 23 ; La-
Salle's great voyage, 33 ; McGregory
and Roseboom, 44; Cass and School-
craft, 401 ; Cass and McKenney, 414.
Exports, 389, 416, 417.
Famine threatened at Detroit, loi,
106.
Farnsworth, Elbn, Chancellor, 480, 516.
Faux-saulniers, or salt smugglers, de-
sirable colonists, 16; sent to build
New Orleans, 16 ; wanted in Canada,
89 ; to be sent to Detroit, 105.
Felch, Alpheus, Governor, 536; Sen-
ator, 537.
Female suffrage rejected, 572.
Feudal rights of Cadillac, 66, 71, 87;
government grants at Detroit in
roture and not feudal, 91
Financial troubles of Michigan, 501,
508, 513-
Findlay, James, member of Council of
Northwest Territory, 219; colonel of
Ohio volunteers in Hull's army, 273 ;
at surrender of Detroit, 299, 302.
Fisher, James, Sergeant, in British
INDEX
591
army, murdered by Pontiac's Indians
at Hog Island, 125 ; Cuillerier
wrongly condemned for drowning his
child, ib.
Flag stafif at Detroit, not used by
Americans after Hull's surrender,
371 ; blown down, ib.
Fletcher, William A., Judge and Re-
viser, 480, 509.
Flour, first exported from the Territory,
417.
Forests recklessly destroyed, 574.
Forged letter, sent to stop enlistments
m Kentucky, 363.
Formality of public acts of French of-
ficers, 78.
Fort St. Joseph, on St. Joseph River,
39, 120; St. Joseph, on St. Clair
River, built by DuLuth, 43 ; burned
and evacuated by La Hontan, 49 ; ,
Mackinaiv, 19, 25, 39, 48, 69 ; posi-
tion changed at various times, 12,
112, 188; captured by Indians, 121 ;
moved to Island of Michilimackinac,
188; captured by British, 284; re-
stored to United States, 378 ; Potit-
chartrain, built by Cadillac in 1 70 1,
54, 59 ; former fort in 1687, 44 ;
British propose to build one at Wa-
wyachtenok, 51; attacked by In-
dians, 67 ; besieged by Indians in
1711,81; enlarged, 107; surrender-
ed to British, 109 ; Lernotilt, at De-
troit, back of old town, 178; retain-
ed by British in violation of treaty
of peace, 189, 192; delivered up to
Americans, 197; surrendered to
British by Hull, 302 ; recaptured by
Harrison, and held by Duncan Mc-
Arthur, 370; abandoned and dis-
mantled, 415; Gratiot, built in 1 8 14,
376; Brady, at Sault Ste. Mane, or-
iginally belonged to Repentigny, 107;
abandoned, iii, 120; established by
United States, 403-4 ; garrison pre-
vent Michigan from building ship
canal, 502-3.
Foxes (orOutagamies) besiege Detroit,
81 ; defeated and slaughtered, 83.
Franklin, Benjamin, desires to extend
settlements, 131, 151, 154.
French writers and explorers, 4.
French system unfavorable to freedom,
77, 171-
French popular with Indians, 22, 117,
118, 122,333; British suspicious of
their loyalty, 135 ; mostly loyal, 170;
not zealous against the Americans,
279, 322; Proctor's efforts to intimi-
date and seduce them in Michigan,
334-
Frenchtown, battles and massacre, 338
-345-
Frontenac, Governor of New Prance,
33^ 40.
P'ur trade, the chief colonial interest,
9, 25, 40, 138 ; attempts to control
it, 42, 48, 52, 196, 198.
Gage, General, Commander-in-Chief,
117, 145-
Galinee, [see Do I Her).
Galissonniere, Marquis de la. Governor
General of New France, favors De-
troit, 69, 94 ; liberal views, 104 ;
suggestions concerning Detroit, 105.
Ganatchio, a name of Lake Ste. Claire,
38.
Gatineau, a Detroit monopolist, 88.
General Assembly of Northwest Ter-
ritory : members from Wayne Coun-
ty, 219 ; troubles at Chillicothe, 223 ;
differences with Governor, 220.
Geological survey organized by Doctor
Houghton, 487, 527.
Gilpin, Henry D., nominated for Gov-
ernor and rejected, 441.
Gladwin, Major, commanding at De-
troit in Pontiac war, 116, 123.
592
INDEX.
Gnadenhutten, New, founded by Zeis-
berger, on Clinton River, 1 84 ; Mo-
ravian road to, 185 ; abandoned,
187.
Godfroy, Monsieur (Jaques ?), commu-
nicates with Pontiac, 127.
Godfroy, Colonel Gabriel : his post on
the Raisin, 297 ; aids American
prisoners, 350 ; intercedes for Oke-
mos, 364.
Goodwin, Daniel, Judge, 475.
Gordon, Lieutenant Governor James
Wright, 514.
Gorrell, Lieutenant, in command at
Green Bay, 118; adventures in Pon-
tiac war, 122.
Governors of New France: annoyed
by intrigues. 5, 18, 21.
Governor General of Canada : his
powers under King's proclamation,
132; under Quebec Act, 155.
Governor and Judges : powers under
Ordinance of 1787, 207; acts in
Michigan, Chaps, X. and XIII ; last
act as land board, 479.
Governors of Michigan Territory:
Hull, Chaps. X. and XL; Cass,
Chap. XIIL; Porter, Chap. XIV.;
of State, Chaps. XV. and XVI.
passim.
Grand jury system, partially abandon-
ed, 562.
Grandfontaine, Governor of Acadia,
sends out Joliet, 30.
Grants of land: by Cadillac, 71 ; by
Governor and Intendant, 80, 89, 90 ;
of lots within the fort at Detroit, 94 ;
from Indians, 120, 140, 170, 193, 196;
mostly invalid, 231 ; by Governor
and Judges in Detroit, 241, 243 ; by
Congress in Michigan, 243, 286.
Gratiot, Fort, built, 376.
Graverat, Garret : under bonds during
Revolution, 165; ill-treated by De-
Peyster, 180.
Graves, Major : at the River Raisin
battles and massacre, 338, 342, 343 ;
carried away by Indians, 346; prob-
able fate, 346, 348.
Graves, Benjamin F., Judge of Supreme
Court, 569.
Green, Judge Sanford M., reviser of
Statutes, 510, 523.
Green Bay, Gorrell at, 118; people
disloyal to United States, 201, 286.
Greenville, Wayne makes treaty at, 196.
Gregoire, Madame, heiress of Cadillac,
80.
Griffin, the first vessel on Lake Erie,
built by LaSalle, 33 ; leaves Niagara
River, 35; reaches Detroit, 37;
reaches Mackinaw, 38.
Griffin, John, Territorial Judge, 237,
and Chap. X.; loses office, 411.
Grisolon {^see DuLuth') de la Tourette,
brother of DuLuth, 46.
Griswold, Stanley, Territorial Secre-
tary, 237.
Grosse He, a large island at mouth of
Detroit River, 58 ; proposed site of
town, 58; attack on Frenchmen
there by Indians, 102; granted to
Alexander Macomb, 170; British
undertake to assert authority there,
378.
tl
Haldimand, Governor General, re-
fuses to give up western posts, 189,
270.
Half century of the Republic com-
pleted, 3.
Hall, General, communicates with
Hull, 290.
Hamilton, Henry, Lieutenant Governor
at Detroit, 158, 165; relations with
Dejean, 170; military action, 174;
INDEX
593
captured atVincennes, 177; confined
closely in Virginia, 177.
Hanks, Lieutenant Porter, taken pris-
oner at Mackinaw, 285 ; killed at
Detroit, 300,
Harrison, General William Henry :
delegate to Congress, 220 ; Governor
of Indiana, 236 ; defeats Indians at
Tippecanoe, 260; commands north-
western army, 335, 357; holds Fort
Meigs, 357; occupies Maiden, 369;
occupies Detroit, 370; gains Battle
of the Thames, 371, and see Chap.
XII. passim-^ conciliates Indians,
372-3-
Hart, Captain : captured at French-
town, 345; murdered by Indians,
346 ; buried with honors at Detroit,
374, 394-
Haven, Rev. E. O., (D.D.), President
of University, 554.
Hay, John, Colonel: made Indian
agent at Pontiac's request, 136; cap-
tured with Hamilton at Vincennes,
176; imprisoned, 177 ; exchanged,
th.\ made Lieutenant Governor, 186;
dies, ib.
Heald, Captain, ordered by Hull to
evacuate Chicago, 293 ; misfortunes,
295-
Helm, Mrs. Margaret, at Chicago mas-
sacre, 295 ; harshly treated by Proc-
tor, 295, 355.
Helm, Captain, garrisons Vincennes
with one soldier and receives honors
of war on surrender, 1 74.
Hennepin, Father Louis, companion of
LaSalle, 4, 6, 34.
Henry, Alexander, a British trader ;
adventures at Mackinaw, etc., in
Pontiac war, ill, 121, 122; attempts
mining on Lake Superior, 147.
Henry, John, a British agent employed
to excite disunion in New England,
259-
Hesse, a Canadian district including
Michigan, 159, 161.
39
Higgins, Sylvester W., topographer,
488, 519.
Historical Society, 422.
Hocquart, Intendant, 88.
Hog Island, {see Belle Isle).
Holmes, Major, killed at Mackinaw,
373-
Homesteads, 543.
Horner, John S. : his experience as
Secretary of the Territory, 465-469.
Horses : at Detroit in Cadillac's time,
61 ; subsequently, 86; numbers in
Canada, 87; none at Oswego, ib.\
wild, at Detroit, 389 ; used as pack-
animals, 390.
Houghton, Doctor Douglass, at De-
troit, 423 ; State Geologist, 487 ;
plans northern surveys, 527-8 ; death,
423, 529.
Houses: in Detroit, \n early days, 62,
63 ; cost of Bellestre's, 63 ; number
in 1760, 112; in 1796, 213; style of,
213, 215.
Howard, Jacob M., Senator, 440, 467
570.
Hubbard, Bela, assistant geologist,
488; his haunted mill, 217,
Hudson's Bay Company incorporated,
28.
Hull, William, Governor of Michigan
Territory, Chaps. X. and XL; ap-
pointed Governor, 237; reaches De-
troit, 239; creates court districts,
241 ; organizes militia, 242 ; discords
inboard, 241, 244; makes treaties,
247 ; builds stockade, 248 ; enrolls
negro militia, 249 ; troubles with
Woodward, 25 1 ; goes to Washing-
ton, 261 ; views on war, 267, 271-2 ;
Revolutionary record, 269 ; other
antecedents, 270; appointed to com-
mand, 273 ; over-nicety, 274 ; reaches
the Maumee, 275 ; sends vessels to
Detroit — one captured at Maiden,
276; reaches Springwells, 277;
crosses into Canada, 278; effect ot
his proclamation, 279; delays, 280-
594
INDEX
282, 289 ; orders attack on Maiden,
290; retreats from Canada, ib.\ me-
ditates surrender, 292 ; orders evac-
uation of Fort Dearborn at Chicago,
293 ; refuses to attack batteries, 297 ;
sends out Cass and McArthur to the
Raisin, ih.-^ refuses summons to cap-
itulate, 298 ; makes no resistance to
Brock, 3C0 ; surrenders without fight-
irigj 302 ; discharged on parole, 304,
315 ; court martial, 306 ; his defence,
310 ; subsequent memoirs on the
subject, 314; reasons for dissolving
first court, 316; remarks on his de-
fence, 318-328.
Hunt, John, Judge, 411.
Hunt, Major Henry J., 350, 351.
Huntington, Samuel, declines judge-
ship, 237.
Hurons, Ouendats or Wyandots, 9 ; at
Mackinaw, 49; remove to Detroit,
63 ; industrious and intelligent, 49 ;
raise corn for sale, 49,86; mission
at Bois-blanc Island, 99 ; intrigues
against Detroit, tb.-^ mission removed
to Sandwich, 103; villages at
Brownstown and Monguagon, 287,
289, 340, 397 ; mostly friendly to
United States, 260; some join the
British, 280, 287; join Harrison,
362; make treaty, 377; change re-
.serves, 397.
Huron, Lake, called Ottawa wa, 57.
Idol, destroyed at Detroit, 23.
Illinois Indians, help Dubuisson, 82.
Illinois, State, organized, 383 ; en-
croaches on Wisconsin, ib.
Imports, in Territory, 407-410.
Indiana : Territory organized, 222 ;
made to include all Michigan, 223 ;
State includes part of Michigan, 383.
Indian names of counties, 519.
Indians : settle at Detroit, 63 ; Cadillac
desires to civilize them, 64, 70 ; con-
dition in 1718, 85; occasionally
troublesome, 67, 81, loi ; stirred up
by Pontiac, 117; dislike English,
118 ; not restrained by white leaders,
122; persuaded against Americans,
191, 192, 195, 257; injured by white
associations, 21 1; deceived by in-
terpreters, 131 ; make grants of land,
120, 140, 170, 193, 196; rise under
Prophet and Tecumseh, 257; course
m War of 1812, 279, 280, 283, 293,
333, 341, 345, 358, 362, 372, 376;
make peace, 373, 376; action of
Michigan Legislature on their be-
half, 517. 543, 545.
Intendant's deputy at Detroit, 96.
Internal improvement system under-
taken, 483; ruinous results, 513;
abandoned, ib., 520.
Interpreters, cause trouble by their
mistakes, 131 «.
Irish manuscript, 410.
Iroquois : did not occupy Michigan,
II, 57; object to French control of
the Strait, as the way to the beaver
country, 42, 56 ; convey their lands
to King of England, 56; campaigns,
27, 46.
Islands : in boundary waters, long un-
settled as to nationality, 2 ; in Lake
Superior, named after Pontchartrain
and his family, 95 ; lost islands, 96;
in Detroit River, 58, 59, 124,
Jailor, compelled to pay tavern li-
cense, 263,
Jay's Treaty, 196, 246.
Jessup, brigade major at Detroit, 299.
INDEX
595
Jesuits: opposed to settlements, i8;
their zeal, ib.-^ rivalry with other or-
ders, 29 ; troubles at Detroit, 63.
Jogues, Father, 11.
Johnson, Sir William, Indian Superin-
tendent, Chap N\\. passim.
Johnson, Colonel Richard M., com-
mands mounted rangers, 363 ; ar-
rives at Detroit, 371 ; breaks British
lines at the Thames, ib.; kills Te-
cumseh, 372 ; Vice President, 478.
Johnston, John, trader at Sault Ste.
Marie, aids in capture of Mackinaw,
284, 402.
Joliet, 30.
Joncaire, Chevalier Francois Chabert
de, 114, 147, 181 ; represents Wayne
County in Assembly of Northwest
Territory, 219.
Jones, George W., delegate to Con-
gress, 398, 469.
Jones, Richard, aids prisoners, 350.
Jonois, Father, missionary at L'Arbre
Croche, carries news of fall of Mack-
inaw to Gladwin, 121.
Jonquiere, de la, Governor, 104.
Judges : none commissioned until 1788,
158, 161 ; Dejean and LeGrand ap-
pointed by commanders, 141, 162 ;
under Northwest Territory, 206 ; in
Michigan Territory, 237, 410, 411,
435 ; in State, 463, 469, 480, 569.
Judiciary system: originally for life,
207 ; changed in Michigan in 1823,
410 ; under State Constitutions, 463,
469, 480, 521, 522, 523.
Jung, and Jungman, Moravian mission-
aries, 184.
Jurisprudence, French system of, pre-
served by Quebec Act, 153 ; abolish-
ed in Upper Canada, 193 ; in Mich-
igan, 262.
♦K
Kandekio, a name of Lake St. Clair,
38.
Karontaen, name of Detroit, 37.
Kaskaskia, captured, 174; people
friendly to Americans, ib.
Kent, Professor, 555. \
Kentucky, invaded by Bird, 181 ; vol- '
unteers from, 335, 363. .
Kidnapping, deserters from Detroit,
statute against, 417.
King's Mountain, Shelby in Battle of, j
363- I
King's proclamation after conquest of
Canada, 132,
Kinzie, John, of Chicago, at massacre,
293 ; ill-treated by Proctor, 354
Kishkaukon, Saginaw chief, trouble-
some, 376 ; charged with murder,
and poisons himself, 416; County,
519-
Knaggs, Captain James, recognizes
Tecumseh, 372.
Kundig, Rev. Martin, appropriation to,
494.
Labadie, Miss, helps prisoners, 350.
La Butte, interpreter during Pontiac
war, 127, 131.
La Croix, Hubert, captain in Legion,
321.
La Foret, Major de, (La Salle's lieu-
tenant), 40, 81 ; at capture of Rose-
boom and McGregory, 44 ; succeeds
Cadillac, 80 ; gives his views about
Detroit, 84.
La H(jntan, Baron de, 4, 6 ; commands
P ort St. Joseph, 46 ; destroys and
evacuates it, 49.
Lakes, necessary ways, 58.
La Marque, Detroit monopolist, 86.
La Mothe, Captain, captured at Vin-
cennes, 177.
La Motte Cadillac, {^see Cadillac).
Land Office, 513, 533.
596
INDEX
Lands: at Detroit, of good quality,
86; granted by Cadillac, 71; by
Governor and Intendant, 90, 91 ;
titles confirmed, 231, 243; invalid
grants, 139, 170, 178, 231 ; bounty
lands not located, and why, 379-3^°;
first sales by United States in 1818,
395 ; school and University grants,
220, 230, 481 ; other grants, 482,
513; fraudulent surveys, 519; sur-
vey system, 527.
Langlade, French trader at Mackinaw :
Henry concealed in his house after
massacre, 121 ; sent out by DePeys-
ter with Indians, 174.
Lansing, capital removed to, 533
Lamed, Charles, Attorney General,
440 ; died of cholera, ib.
La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, 4,
21; sent out to explore, 23; en-
nobled, 31 ; prepares for further ad-
ventures, 33 ; builds the Griffin, ib.\
starts for the Mississippi, 35;
reaches the Detroit, 37; reaches
Mackinaw, 38 ; builds fort on the
St. Joseph, 39.
Lasselle, Miss, aids prisoners, 350.
Law school of University. 555.
Legion, Michigan, 321.
Legislative Board of Governor and
Judges, 207, 237.
Legislative Council : created, i ; met
in 1824,412; changed, 1,413,416.
Le Grand, Philip, acts judicially under
military appointment, 141.
Lernoult, Captain (and Major) R. B.,
168 ; attends examination of prison-
ers before Dejean, ib.; builds fort at
Detroit named after him, 178.
Lewis, Colonel William, in battles of
the Raisin, 338-344.
Licenses to sell liquor forbidden, 553.
Lieutenant Governors: under British,
Hamilton, Hay and Smclair, 158,
164, 178; of Upper Canada, Simcoe,
193-
Liquor selling: at Mackinaw, 64; re-
strained by Cadillac, 65 ; by regula-
tions of Detroit merchants, 65, 164;
legislation before surrender of De-
troit, 261 ; by State laws, 553.
Livingston, Lieutenant Governor, of
New York, approves of bushrangers,
16, 52; his schemes against Detroit,
52.
Livre, tournois and parisis, 63,
Loan, Five Million, 494, 496-502 ;
loans restricted, 514, 542.
Local government : unknown to French
colonists, 77, 171 ; not provided for
under Hull's administration, 262 ;
views of General Cass on, 392, 413.
Lods et ventes, reserved in grants, 91 ;
their amount, 98.
Longueuil, Chevalier de, Commander
at Detroit, 93, 100 ; decorated with
Cross of St. Louis, 100.
Lottery, authorized for public purposes,
241.
Louisiana : did not include Michigan,
8 ; Cadillac made Governor of, 76.
Louis XIV., ambitious of territory, 20.
Lucas, LaSalle's pilot, 35.
Lucas, Robert, Governor of Ohio, m-
volved in boundary disputes, 445,
447-
Lusigny, leader of bushrangers, 40.
Lyon, Lucius, delegate to Congress,
399 ; Senator, 469.
M
McArthur, Colonel (and General)
Duncan : commands regiment in
Hull's army, 273 ; advises him of
impending war, 276 ; makes foray
up the Thames, 279 ; detached with
Cass before surrender, 297; in com-
mand at Detroit, 370; raid through
Canada, 373.
INDEX
597
McClelland, Robert, Governor, 545.
McCracken, Captain Virgin, murdered
at Frenchtown, 346.
McDonell, John, 350.
McDougall, Lieutenant George, goes
with Major Campbell to Pontiac's
camp, 128; escapes, ib.; obtains
grant of Hog Island, 170.
McGregor, Gregor, appointed first
sheriff by Lord Dorchester, 161.
McGregory, Major Patrick, sent on ex-
pedition to Mackinaw, 43 ; captured
by Tonty and his associates, 45.
McKee, Colonel, British Indian agent :
his stores destroyed by Wayne, 195 ;
at Maiden, 257 ; protects inhabitants
of Detroit, 333.
McKeehan, Doctor, sent to attend
prisoners, and captured, 346 ; cruelly
treated, ib.
McKenney, Colonel, accompanies Cass
to Lake Superior, 414.
McKinney, John, defaulting State'
Treasurer, 565.
McKinstry, Colonel David C, opposes
Secretary Mason's appointment, 430.
Macaulay, Zachary, signs protest
against Quebec Act, 158.
Mack, Stephen, an officer of the Le-
gion, 321 ; helps prisoners, 350.
Mackinaw : an early post and mission,
12, 13, 19; position of fort, 12, 48,
112; captured by Indians, 121 ; dif-
ficulties with Major Rogers, 145 ;
fort removed to Island of Michili-
mackinac, 188; captured by British,
285 ; some of its people disloyal,
286 ; failure of attempt to recapture,
. 373 ; restored to United States, 377 ;
extensive business, 407, 410; trouble
with Mormons on Beaver Island, 549.
Mackintosh, Angus, of Detroit, inherits
Moy estates, 136;/.; hospitality, 212.
Macomb, Alexander, merchant : on
committee to regulate liquor sales,
164; obtains grant of Grosse He,
170.
Macomb, Alexander, General, receives
sword of honor, 384.
Macomb, William, helps prisoners,
350-
Macomb County, 388.
Madison, Major, at Battles of French-
town, 338-345.
Madison, President, 324.
Maiden (or Amherstburgh) : built on
American occupation of Michigan,
228 ; why not placed on Bois-blanc
Island, 229 ; centre of Indian trans-
actions, 257; Hull fails to take it,
279, 292, 308, 310; forces from, at
Frenchtown, 337, 340; prisoners
taken there, 345 ; Barclay gathers
his fleet, 366 ; Proctor evacuates and
partially destroys, 369; Harrison
occupies, ib.\ restored to British, 378;
vexatious conduct of officers there, ib.
Manitous, 24.
Manning, Randolph, Chancellor and
Judge, 480, 569.
Mansfield, Captain, at Detroit, 304.
Mansfield, Lord: inconsistency, 132,
156.
Manufactures : opposed by English,
106; encouraged by French, ib.; ex-
tension of settlements opposed, as
dangerous to British industry, 138,
151-
Marietta colonists at Detroit, 217.
Marion, Fontaine, shot for acting as
British guide, 46.
Marquette, Father, 13.
Marriages : performed by military
commanders, 179; sanctioned by
Canadian legislation, 204.
Married women, secured in their pro-
perty, 520.
Marston, Isaac, Judge of Supreme
Court, 569,
Martin, George, Chief Justice, 569.
Martial law : kept up after conquest,
under King's proclamation, 132;
under Quebec Act, 158.
Mascoutins, besiege Detroit, 81.
698
INDEX
Mason, General John T., Secretary of
Michigan Territory, 428.
Mason, Stevens Thomson, Secretary of
Michigan Territory, before his com-
ing of age, 429'; objections to his
appointment, ib.\ maintains bound-
ary rights of Territory, 446, 448;
superseded by Charles Shaler and
John S. Horner, 465 ; elected Gov-
ernor of the State, ib.^ negotiates
loan, and is cheated, 497-501.
Massacre, planned against Detroit, loi,
123 ; at Mackinaw, 121 ; at Chicago,
295 ; at Frenchtown, 345.
Maumee Rapids : British build fort
there after the Revolution, 195 ;
Wayne defeats Indians there, ib.\
Hull sends vessels to Detroit from,
276; Harrison builds Fort Meigs,
357-
Maurepas, Count, friendly to Canada,
94.
May, James, Judge, 205; aids prison-
ers, 350.
Mechanics, in colony, 34, 62.
Medaminabo, 391.
Medical school at University, 532, 557.
Meigs, Fort, besieged ineffectually,
357, 359-
Meigs, Return J., Governor of Ohio,
286, 357.
Membre, Father Zenobe, accompanies
LaSalle, 34.
Menominie Indians : at Detroit, 82 ;
aid Gorrell, 119, 122; aid British
against Americans at Mackinaw,
373-
Mesnard, Father Rene, missionary on
Lake Superior, 1 1 ; dies at the por-
tage of Keweenaw Point, 12.
Mexican War, 521.
Miami Indians, 294, 295, 363.
Michabou, 95, 547.
Michigan : French dependency, 3, 8 ;
kept back from settlement, 8, 9 ;
early posts and missions, 10 ; sur-
rendered to British, 109; retained
by Great Britain in violation of
treaty, 189 ; attempt to secure its
possession, 198 ; delivered up to
Americans, 197 ; included in Wayne
County of Northwest Territory, 205 ;
represented in Assembly, Chap. IX.
passim ; attached to Indiana, 224 ;
Territory organized, 231 ; its first
administration under Hull, Chap. X.;
no new settlements, 234 ; no lands
in market, 221, 247 ; surrendered to
British, 302 ; under British military
rule, Chap. XII.; promised to the
Prophet, 358-9 ; re-occupied by
Americans, 370 ; refuses to have an
assembly, 391 ; extended to the Mis-
sissippi, 383 ; to the Missouri, 440 ;
prepares for and forms Constitution,
435, 442-4, 462 ; elects State officers
and representative, 463 ; first Leg-
islature, 469; Senators elected, ib.\
admission subjected to conditions,
472 ; rejected by convention, 475 ;
irregular acceptance, 477 ; admitted
into the Union, ib.; adopts new Con-
stitution, 539. ^
Michilimackinac, {see Mackinaw), coun-
ty organized, 388.
Military interference with canal at
Sault Ste. Marie, 502-3.
Militia, organized, 205, 242 ; in War
of 1812, 321.
Miller, Lieutenant Colonel James : in
Hull's army, 273 ; at Battle ot Mon-
guagon, 289, 296 ; brevetted, 329 ;
exchanged for Dacres, 305.
Miller, Oliver W., befriends prisoners,
350-
Miller & Jermain, first ship flour to the
east, 417.
Mills, David, M. P., makes report on
Canadian boundary, 29.
Mills: at Detroit, 74, 216; moulin
banal, 73, 90 ; water mill authorized
by Boishebert, 90; wind mills, 216.
Mines, on Lake Superior, 147, 148.
INDEX
599
Minong Island, disappearance from
maps, 95.
Missions : early, 10, 1 1 ; Huron, at
Bois-blanc, 99 ; removed to Sand-
wich, 103.
Money : current, 262 ; paper, shin-
plasters and dicker, 384, 490-2, 497 ;
scrip, 501.
Monguagon, Battle of, 289, 296.
Monroe County, organized, 383.
Monroe, James, President, visits De-
troit, 383.
Montreal Point, opposite Detroit, 104.
Moore, Thomas, major in Ohio volun-
teers, 274.
Navarre, Robert, deputy of the In-
tendant, 96, 97, 99.
Negroes: retained as slaves, 204, 246;
not restored when fugitives from
Canada, 246; enrolled as militia,
249; peculiar laws concerning, 417.
New France, included Michigan, 8.
Newspapers: none in Canada, 152;
Michigan Essay, 255; Detroit Ga-
zette, 384 ; Michigan Herald, 412.
New York: ceded to England, 29;
controversy with, for western trade,
42.
Nicholas, a Huron chief, plots against
Detroit, 102.
Moravians: Zeisberger and others
brought prisoners to Detroit, 183;
settle at New Gnadenhutten, 184;
abandon it, 187.
Morell, George, Territorial and State
Judge, 435, 480.
Mormons, establish kingdom on Bea-
ver Islands, 549; its fate, 551.
Morrison, Robert, major in Ohio vol-
unteeis, 274.
Muir, Major, British Commander at
Detroit, 349, 353.
Mundy, Edward, first Lieutenant Gov-
ernor, 465.
Munson, J. R., major of Ohio volun-
teers, 274.
N
Noblesse, French citizens belonging to,
212.
Nolan, Detroit monopolist, 88.
Normal School, 532, 543.
iCorthwest Company: opposed to set-
tlements, 257; quarters at the Sault,
402.
Northwest Territory, Chap. IX.
Norvell, John, one of the first Sena-
tors, 469.
Notary, an important officer, 78, 97.
Noyan, Monsieur de. Commander at
Detroit, 93.
o
OcHSVi^EGO or Oswego, a name of
Lake Erie, 57.
Officers : English, disliked by Indians,
175 ; Scottish, more acceptable, 136;
British, at Maiden, exceed their au-
thority, 378, 379.
Ohio: organized as a State, 222; fur-
nishes volunteers for Hull's army,
273 ; operations after Hull's surren-
der. Chap. XII.; boundary dispute
with, 444-463.
Okemos, a nephew of Pontiac, 1 19 ;
roughly handled by American ran-
gers, 364; submits to the United
States, 365.
Ordinance of 1787, 206.
Ordinances of Detroit peculiar, 224,
227.
Oregon resolutions, 520.
Orotoni, a Huron chief, 102.
Osages, aid Dubuisson, 81.
Otsiketa, a name of Lake St. Clair,
2^.
600
INDEX.
Ottawas: at Mackinaw, 49; at De- | Outagamies, attack Detroit, 8t ; de-
troit, 49, 82 ; raise good crops, 85 ; I feated, 84.
hostile, 363.
Ottawavva, (Lake Huron), 57.
Ouendats, [see Hiirons).
Owen, John, State Treasurer, saves the
State credit, 565.
Packhorses, used for transportation,
390-
Pajot, Commander at Detroit, 93.
Panis or Pawnees, slaves, 113; at De-
troit, ib. note ; woman conceals Henry
at Mackinaw during massacre, 121.
Paris, Treaty of, 113.
Parkman, Francis, 4, 120.
Passing bell, discontinued in cholera
year, 438.
Patriot War, 511.
Pattinson, Richard, obtains Indian
grants, 196; partner in scheme for
acquiring Michigan, 199.
Pean, Hugues, hereditary Town- Major
of Quebec, Commander at Detroit,
91 ; rapacity and punishment, 92.
Pelee, Pointe: Dollier and Galinee
wrecked there, 23.
Perry, Commodore Oliver Hazard,
prepares fleet at Erie, 365 ; defeats
British fleet on Lake Erie, 367 ; acts
as aid to Harrison in Battle of the
Thames, 372.
Phelyppeaux family, 94.
Pierce, John D., Superintendent of
Public Instruction, 481, 513.
Pioneers, usually honest, 15.
Political difficulties introduced, 419-
432.
Pollard, Reverend Richard, befriends
prisoners, 349.
Ponies, numerous in the woods, hardy
and useful, 389.
Pontchartrain, Count, at Quebec, 67 ;
friendly to Cadillac, 70; places
named for him, 95.
Pontchartrain, Fort, built by Cadillac
at Detroit, 54, 59; enlarged, I07.
Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas : meets
Rogers at Cuyahoga River, 115; his
plots and massacres. Chap. VII.
passim; his sagacity, 257; makes
grants of land, 120, 140.
Population: of Detroit, in 1760, 112;
in 1796, 213; of Territory, 234.
Portage of Keweenaw Point : Mesnard
lost there, 12.
Portage of Saylt Ste. Marie : expense
of transportation, 506, 529.
Porter, Captain, takes possession of
Detroit, 197.
Porter, Augustus S., Senator, 514.
Porter, George B., Territorial Gover-
nor, 429; dies of cholera, 446,
Porter, Peter B., General, 324.
Posts, western, retained by Great Bri-
tain wrongfully, 189.
Potawatamies : aid Dubuisson, 82 ;
raise large crops, 85 ; cede their vil-
lages to Chene and Navarre, 150,
151 ; attack fort on St. Joseph, 120;
hostile to United States, 363.
Potier, Father, missionary among the
Hurons, 99, 103
Powell, William Dummer, first Judge
in Western District, 161.
Pownall, Governor, on French settle-
ments, 17, 108.
Praline, 391.
Printing press: none in Canada, 6;
first introduced in Michigan, 255.
Prisoners : massacred at Frenchtown,
345; ransomed at Detroit. 349; run
the gauntlet at Fort Meigs, 358.
Proctor, Henry, Colonel and General :
assumes command at Maiden, 287 ;
at Detroit, i}) i ; organizes govern-
INDEX
601
ment, 332 ; commands at battles of
Frenchtown, 342-345 ; cruelty, 346 ;
forbids ransom of prisoners from In-
dians, 351 ; remonstrated with by
Woodward, 352 ; banishes citizens,
354, 355; moves into Ohio, 357;
repulsed at Fort Meigs, ib.\ cruelty
Q
Quebec Act: passed, 152, 153; op-
posed, 157; not enforced in Western
to prisoners, 358; rebuked by Tc-
cumseh, ib.\ assaults Fort Stephen-
son, 360 ; defeated and retreats, 362 ;
evacuates Maiden, 369 ; insulted by
Tecumseh, tb.\ overtaken and de-
feated by Harrison, 371.
Canada or Michigan, 15S; repealed
as to Upper Canada, 193.
R
Railroads : first chartered, 418;
owned by State, 483, 495 ; sold,
496, 520.
Raisin, River, battles and massacre,
338-345-
Randall, Robert, attempts to bribe
members of Congress to dispose of
Michigan to Detroit company, 199.
Ransom of prisoners : from Indians,
after Frenchtown massacre, 349 ;
forbidden by Proctor, 351.
Ransom, Epaphroditus, Judge, 480 ;
Governor, 537.
Raquette, used in ball-play, 121.
Raymbault, missionary, 11.
Reaume, an early Detroit settler, 88 ;
a Green Bay magistrate of eccentric
jurisdiction, 160.
Rebellion, services of Michigan in,
566.
Recollets, early missionaries, 10.
Records, removed from Detroit to
Quebec, 190.
Recreations of old citizens, 212, 218,
224, 422.
Reed, Ebenezer, 384.
Reform School, 559.
Reid, Duncan, 350.
Removals from office multiplied, 419.
Repentigny, Chevalier (and Marquis)
de, obtains seigneurie, and builds
fort at Sault Ste. Marie, 71, 92, 107;
lost to his family by escheat, 93.
40
Reserves, government : remarks upon
abuses in extending exclusive juris-
diction over them, 507.
Revision of statutes : in 1820, 405 ; in
1827, 417; in 1838, 509; in 1846,
523; forbidden by Constitution, 510,
542.
Revolution, American: did not affect
sentiment in Michigan, 165, 171.
Revolution, French, of 1830 : celebrat-
' ed, 41S.
Reynolds, Doctor, killed at Detroit,
300.
Ribourde, Father Gabriel de la, chief
missionary with LaSalle, 34.
Richard, Father Gabriel : arrives at
Detroit, 204; introduces printing
press, 255 ; delegate to Congress,
398; dies, 440.
Richardie, Father de la, Huron mis-
sionary, loi, 103.
Riflemen, mounted : Johnson's regi-
ment, 363; arrive at Detroit, 371;
break the enemy's lines at the
Thames, ib.
Roads: none before Moravian, 186;
few in Hull's time, 262 ; government
roads, 415.
Robertson, William and David, in
Randall scheme, 199.
Rocheblave, M. de, Commander at
Kaskaskia, 173 ; captured and sent
to Virginia, 174.
602
INDEX
Rogers, Major Robert : takes posses-
sion of Detroit, 109 ; in Pontiac
war, 129 ; frauds at Mackinaw, and
subsequent career, 145.
Rosalie, Fort, 95.
Roseboom, a New York trader : sent
to Mackinaw by Governor Dongan,
44 ; captured by Durantaye, 45.
Rotflre, lands at Detroit held in, 91.
Roundhead, Wyandot chief, 334, 340,
342.
Rowland, Captain (and Major) Thomas:
refuses to submit to Hull's surren-
der, 305 ; a gentleman of literary
tastes, 422.
Royal Americans, (60th Regiment), at
Detroit, 109.
Ruland, Israel, imprisoned and ban-
ished by Proctor, 347, 354.
Sabrevois, Commander at Detroit, 93,
94.
Sacs or Sakis : at Detroit, 82 ; befriend
Etherington, 119; in Black Hawk
war, 435-6.
Sager, Dr. Abram, on geological sur-
vey, 488.
Saghinan or Saginaw, 9.
Sahiquage or Sweege, a name of Lake
Erie, 57.
St. Anne's Church, Detroit, 81, 204,
255» 3^1, 398.
St. Clair, General Arthur, Governor of
Northwest Territory, 210, 220.
vSt. Clair, Arthur, (son of Governor),
Attorney General, 210; honored
above his comrades, ib.
Ste. Claire, Lake, named by LaSalle,
38 ; various names, ib.
St. Esprit, mission at Chegoimegon,
12.
St. George, Colonel, at Maiden, 278.
St. Ignace, the old mission of Mack-
inaw, 12.
St. Joseph, of Lake Michigan, Fort :
built by LaSalle, 39 ; removed in-
land, 40; captured in Pontiac war,
120.
St. Joseph, Fort, on St. Clair River:
built by DuLuth, 43; commanded
by La Hontan, 46 ; destroyed and
abandoned, 49.
St. Lusson, holds council at Sault Ste.
Marie, 21.
St. Ours, Desch'aillons de, at Detroit,
93-
Salaries, under State Constitution, 544,
577.
Salieres (Carignan) Regiment, 26.
Salt manufacture, 573.
Sargent, Winthrop, Secretary and act-
ing Governor of Northwest Terri-
tory, at Detroit, 197 ; organizes civil
and military affairs, and establishes
Wayne County, 205.
Sastaretsi, the great Huron chief, taken
to Quebec, and dies, 10 1.
Sault de Ste. Marie: early mission, 10,
19; St. Lusson holds council, 2i ;
seigneurie granted to Repentigny,
71, 92, 107; visited by Henry, iii ;
British sympathizers, 201, 283, 286,
402 ; Cass makes treaty there, 404 ;
ship canal interrupted by troops,
502; built, 546.
Sawyer, Franklin, Superintendent of
Public Instruction, 440, 513.
Scalps, reward for, 177.
Schieffiin, Jonathan : captured at Vin-
cennes and sent to Virginia, 177 ; in-
terested in Randall scheme, 199; re-
tains British allegiance, 200; obtains
large Indian grants, 196, 201 ; repre-
sents Wayne County in Assembly,
223 ; spirited conduct at Chillicothe,
ib.
Schools : early founded in Detroit,
254-6 ; grants for, 220, 230 ; system
INDEX
603
adopted, 416, 481; Normal, 532;
Reform, 559.
Schoolcraft, Henry R.: on Cass's first
expedition, 400; historical writer,
422.
Scott, Dr. William McDowell, 354;
abused by Proctor, ib.
Scott, Miss, befriends prisoners, 350.
Scottish officers and merchants, liked
by Indians, 136.
Search of American vessels at Maiden,
379-
Sedgwick, Theodore, exposes Randall
and Whitney, 199.
Seigneuries : only two in Michigan,
71-
Senecas : expedition against, * 46 ;
friendly to United States, 260.
Servants at Detroit, praised by Judge
Burnet, 113 «
Settlements : opposed by Jesuits, fur
companies and British Ministry, 19,
20, 150, 170, 172; favored by Beau-
harnois, Galissonni^re and Vau-
dreuil, 89, 105, 107 ; in Michigan,
largely from other States, 426
Shaler, Charles, declines the office of
Secretary, 465.
Shawanoes, in part join Tecumseh and
the Prophet, 258-9 ; partly friendly
to the United States, 26c.
Shea, Dr. John G., 30.
Shelby, Governor Isaac : patriotic ser-
vices, 363 ; leads Kentucky volun-
teers, ib.\ his pony at Maiden, 370;
commands army after the Battle of
the Thames, 372; fort named after
him, 374.
Sheldon, John P.: editor of Gazette,
384; Secretary of Council, 412;
tried for contempt, 417.
Shinplaster currency, 384-5.
Shipp, Lieutenant, at Fort Stephenson,
360.
Short, Lieutenant Colonel (British),
killed at Fort Stephenson, 360.
Shipping, at Detroit, in 1796, 215.
Sibley, Lieutenant, killed at Detroit,
300.
Sibley, Solomon : first American set-
tler in Michigan, 217; delegate to
Assembly, 219 ; member of Council,
222 ; meeting with Lewis Cass, 218 ;
Supreme Court Judge, 217, 411 ; de-
legate to Congress, 398.
Sieges of Detroit, 81, 123-130.
Silver, discovered on Lake Superior,
148.
Simcoe, John Graves, Lieutenant Gov-
ernor of Upper Canada, 193 ; suc-
ceeds Rogers in command of Queen's
Rangers, 194; builds fort on Mau-
mee, 195 ; cajoles Hull, 270.
Sinclair, Patrick, Lieutenant Governor,
178; at Mackinaw, 188; removes
fort to Island of Michilimackinac, ib.
Slavery, not to be extended, 539.
Slaves, in Canada and Michigan, 113,
204, 246.
Smart, Robert, 350, 356.
Smith, Thomas, appointed clerk by
Lord Dorchester, 161 ; killed at
Maumee, ib.
Smythe, Richard, cavalry officer at De-
troit, 321.
Snelling, Colonel Josiah, of Miller's
regiment, 297, 299, 300, 319.
Social life in Detroit, 202, 211, 218,
225, 254, 420.
Solar compass, 527.
South Sea expeditions, 21.
Springwells, or Bellefontaine : Hull's
camping ground, 277 ; Brock crosses
there, 300 ; encampment of soldiers
in Black Hawk war, 278, 440 ; of
"Patriots," 278.
Sproat, Colonel Ebenezer, 218.
Squaws, defeat Indians at foot-ball,
210.
State House at Lansing, 575.
State Library, under lady librarian, 576.
Statutes: revised in 1820, 405; 1827,
417; 1838,509; 1846,523; Com-
piled, 1857, 542; 1872, 542.
604
INDEX.
Steamboat Walk-in-the-Water, first on
Lake Erie, 395.
Stephenson, Fort, defended by Major
Cioghan, 360.
Stuart, Charles E , Senator, 569.
Strang, James J., King of the Mor-
mons, 549.
Superior, Lake : early missions on, 10,
II ; visited by Alexander Henry, 147;
by Cass, 404, 414; surveys on, 527;
mining, 148, 529 ; first steamboat
on, 529.
Sweege, Lake, (Erie), 57.
Symmes, Judge John Cleves, at De-
troit, 210.
Symmes, Captain John Cleves : curi-
ous theory concerning the interior of
the earth, — " Symmes's Hole," 396
Tabellion : nature of his office, 97.
Talon, Intendant, sends out expedi-
tions, 21, 29.
Tanner, John, captive among Indians
— dangerous character, 415.
Taochiarontiong, same as Atiochiaron-
tiong.
Tappan, Dr. Henry P., President of
the University, 554.
Tarhee (the Crane), Wyandot chief,
joins Harrison, 362.
Taxes: laid by Commander at De-
troit, 140; how levied in Territory,
262.
Taychatin, chief, goes to Quebec with
Bellestre, and dies, loi.
Taylor, Zachary, defeats Indians in
Black Hawk war, 436.
Tecumseh, Chief of the Shawanoes:
incites the Indians to war, 258; af-
ter defeat at Tippecanoe goes to
Maiden, 260; humanity at Fort
Meigs, 358; at Bois-blanc during
Battle of Lake Erie, 369; insults
Proctor for cowardice, zA; killed at
the Thames, 371-2.
Teganissorens, Chief of the Iroquois,
55-
Tenney, Mrs. H. A , State Librarian,
576.
Tenures of lands, in Cadillac's seig-
neurie, 72; of Royal grants, 91 ;
of lands in fort, 97.
Teuchsa Grondie, {see Atiochiaronti-
ong).
Texas annexation favored, 520,
Thames, Battle of the, 371.
Thomas (or Tomaw), Menominie chief,
373, 401-2.
Tippecanoe, Battle of, 260.
Tob'acco, exported from Detroit, 417.
Toledo war, 447.
Tonty, Chevalier Henry de, LaSalle's
companion, 32 ; in Seneca cam-
paign, 44.
Tonty, the younger, Commander at
Detroit, 80 ; grasping and arrogant,
87.
Tories, granted lands in Canada, 194
Townships, first organized, 413.
Tracy, Marquis de. Viceroy, 26; his
Iroquois campaign, 27.
Trade: restricted, 15, 25,32; western,
coveted by English, 42 ; licenses, 25,
69 ; monopoly at Detroit, 87 ; open
after conquest, 116.
Traders: at Detroit, 136, 212, 215,
228 ; at Sault and Green Bay, hostile
to the United States, 228, 283, 286.
Trading houses, government, 229, 406.
Treaty, of Paris, 113; Jay's, 196, 198,
204.
Trimble, Major William A., of Ohio
volunteers, 274.
Trowbridge, Charles C, iv.; with ex-
pedition of 1820, 401 ; collects his-
tory, 422.
Trumbull, Judge John, author of Mc-
Fingal, 434.
Turnbull, Captain George, vindicates
Cuillerier, 125 ; establishes courts,
141.
INDEX
605
u
University: founded, 385 ; reorgan-
ized in 1822, 407; by Constitution
of 1835, 481 ; law and medical de-
partments, 532, 555 ; by Constitution
of 1850, 543, 554.
Upper Peninsula, 526, 546, 554, 570.
V
Van Buren, Martin, Judge Advocate
on Hull's trial, 306.
Van Home, Thomas B., major of Ohio
regiment, 274; at Battle of Browns-
town, 287, 289.
Vaudreuil, Philip de Rigaud, Marquis
de, favors brandy trade, 85.
Vaudreuil, Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis
de, furthers settlement of Detroit,
107.
Vincennes, Sieur de : gallant conduct,
82.
Vincennes, town and fort, captured by
Clark, 176.
W
Wabishkindibe, name of Henry Con-
nor, 131, 187.
Walk-in-the-Water, first steamboat on
Lake Erie, 395, 400.
Walk-in-the-Water, Wyandot chief,
289, 336, 340, 372-3-
Walker, Hon. Charles I., iv., 555, 561.
War of 1 81 2, Chaps. XI. and XII.
War Department, Chap. XI. passim.
Washington's views on the retention of
western posts, 189.
Water ways, the only roads, 58.
Wawatam, an Indian chief, saves Al-
exander Henry, 121.
Wawyachtenok (Waweatanong), old
name of Detroit, 51, 56, 57.
Wayne, General Anthony : campaign,
195; visits Detroit, 197; death and
preservation of his body, ib.
Wayne County : established, 205 ; dis-
franchised on organization of Ohio,
223-4; re-organized, 382.
Weld, Isaac, describes Detroit, 213.
Wendat, or Wyandot, {see Huron).
Wells, Captain William, killed at Chi-
cago, 294-5.
Wells, Colonel, at Frenchtown, 341.
Wells, Ensign, murdered at French-
town, 346.
Wells, Professor, 555.
Wheat: introduced by Cadillac, 74;
raised many years on same land, 86.
Whipping-post, 405.
Whipple, Commodore, 218.
Whipple, Major John, 250.
Whipple, Judge Charles W., 250.
Whistler, Major John, at Detroit, si-
lences British battery, 297.
White River, English to be kept from,
99, 100, 104.
Whiting, General Henry, 395, 422.
Whitney, Charles, plots with Randall
and others to obtain title to Michi-
gan, 199.
Wild-cat banks, 490.
Willcox, General O. B., 564, 566.
Wilkins, Ross, Judge : appointed, 435 ;
first United States District Judge,
475-
Winchester, General, 337 ; disasters at
Frenchtown, 335-346.
Windmills, 216.
Wing, Austin E., delegate to Congress,
399-
Winimeg, Indian chief, carries message
to Chicago, 293.
Wisconsin, annexed to Michigan, 383 ;
made Territory, 443.
Wisner, Moses, Governor, 545, 563.
606
INDEX.
Witherell, James, Territorial Judge,
245 ; Major of Legion, 299 ; paroled,
304; Secretary of Territory, 417.
Wolcott, Alexander, 401.
Women admitted to University, 557.
Woodbridge, William, Secretary of
Territory, 376; Judge of Supreme
Court, 417, 435; delegate to Con-
gress, 398; Governor, 514, 536;
Senator, 515, 536,
Woodward, Augustus B., Judge, Chaps.
X., XL, XII. and XIU. passim; le-
gislated out of office, 411.
Woolfolk, Captain, murdered at
Frenchtown, 346.
Wright, John, botanist, 488.
Wyandot, (see Huron).
Wyley, Ann, executed by Dejean, 167.
Zeisberger, David, Moravian missionary, 182.
h-