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MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE 

FROM     ITS     DISCOVERY     AND     SETTLEMENT     BY     THE 

FRENCH   TO   ITS   FINAL   SURRENDER   TO 

THE   UNITED  STATES 

BY 

HENRY  M.  UTLEY 


LOUIS  XIV.  DELIVERING  TO  CADILLAC    HIS   COMMISSION  TO   FOUND  A 

COLONY  AT  DETROIT 

Painting  presented  by  the  French  Republic  to  the  City  of  Detroit  on  the  two  hundredth 

anniversary  of  its  founding 


MICHIGAN 

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


BY 


HENRY  M.  UTLEY     BYRON  M.  CUTCHEON 

Advisory  Editor 

CLARENCE  M.  BURTON 

VOLUME    ONE 


Si  quceris  peninsulam  amcenam  circumspice 


The  Publishing  Society  of  Michigan 

1906 


Printed  at  AMERICANA  PRESS 
for  The  Publishing  Society  of  Michigan 


P 


? 


Copyright,  1906,  by  FRANK  R.  HOLMES 
All  Rights  Reserved 


PUBLICATION  OFFICE 

36     EAST     230     STREET 
NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 


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

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

7 


8     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE 


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

HENRY  M.  UTLEY. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CHAPTERS 


CHAPTER  I 


DISCOVERY  33-42 

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


CHAPTER  II 


EARLY  EXPLORATION   43-55 

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


CHAPTER  III 


LATER  EXPLORATION  57-67 

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


CHAPTER  IV 

JESUIT  MISSIONARIES   69-81 

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

'3 


14   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

CHAPTER  V 

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

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

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  FUR  TRADE  AND  ITS  IMPORTANCE 95-105 

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

CHAPTER  VII 

FIRST  FRENCH  ATTEMPTS  AT  COLONIZATION.  .107-115 

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

CHAPTER  VIII 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  15 

CHAPTER  IX 

CADILLAC  AND  HIS  COLONY  129-146 

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

CHAPTER  X 

CADILLAC  AS  FEUDAL  LORD 147-161 

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

CHAPTER  XI 

FRENCH  SUCCESSORS  OF  CADILLAC 163-178 

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

CHAPTER  XII 

DANGERS  WHICH  SURROUNDED  THE  NEW  SETTLE- 
MENT   179-195 

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


1 6        MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

CHAPTER  XIII 


COMMERCIAL  RIVALRY  BETWEEN  THE  FRENCH  AND 
ENGLISH  197-208 

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


CHAPTER  XIV 

BORDER  WARS  OF  THE  COLONISTS 209-223 

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


CHAPTER  XV 

FINAL  SUCCESS  OF  THE  ENGLISH 225-242 

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


CHAPTER  XVI 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  1 7 

CHAPTER  XVII 

PONTIAC   PLANS   TO   WIPE   OUT   THE   ENGLISH 

INVADERS  261-273 

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

CHAPTER  XVIII 

COMPLETE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  SAVAGES 275-291 

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

CHAPTER  XIX 

* 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  COLONY  UNDER  IMPROVED 

CONDITIONS 293-307 

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

CHAPTER  XX 

THE  OLD  FRENCH  HABITANTS  AND  THEIR  WAYS 

309-322 

Characteristics  of  the  French  Settlers — Fondness  for  So- 
cial Festivities — Dancing  Parties — Pony  Racing  on  the 
Ice — Orchards — Mercantile  Establishments — Ladies  given 
to  Fine  Dresses — Universal  Vehicle — Pioneer  Hospitality 
— Conservative  and  Economical  Habits. 
J-2 


I  8        MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

CHAPTER  XXI 

MICHIGAN  UNDER  BRITISH  RULE 323-335 

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

CHAPTER  XXII 

• 

INFLUX  OF  SETTLERS  337-3SO 

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

CHAPTER  XXIII 


CLOSE  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  AND  SURRENDER 

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

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


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Louis  XIV  delivering  to  Cadillac  his  Commission  to  Found 

a  Colony  at  Detroit Frontispiece 

Jacques   Cartier    Facing  p.  36 

Carder's  Manor  House Facing  p.  36 

Landing  of  Nicollet Facing  p.  46 

Louis  Joliet  : Facing  p.  50 

Marquette  and  Joliet  discovering  the  Mississippi 

River    Facing  p.     52 

Robert  de  la  Salle   Facing  p.     60 

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

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

James  Marquette   Facing  p.     76 

Indian  Clay  Vessel  Facing  p.    88 

Indian  War  Implements  Facing  p.     88 

Map  of  the  Waterways  of  Michigan Facing  p.  102 

Samuel  de  Champlain   Facing  p.  1 10 

Cadillac's   Statue    Facing  p.  132 

Louis   XIV    Facing  p.  150 

Braddock's   Defeat    Facing  p.  216 

Louis  de  Montcalm Facing  p.  222 

James  Wolfe    Facing  p.  228 

View  of  Quebec   (1759) Facing  p.  240 

Death  of  Wolfe   Facing  p.  240 

Pontiac    Facing  p.  264 

Robert  Rogers   Facing  p.  284 

Arent  Schuyler  De  Peyster Facing  p.  330 

John  Jacob  Astor Facing  p.  356 

'9 


CHAPTER  I 
DISCOVERY 


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

Fortunately  for  France,  Verazzano  was  sent  a  sec- 


*Desmarquets.    Memoirs  Chronologiques  pour  servir  a  1'histoire 
a  Dieppe  et  a  celle  de  la  navigation  Francois.    Paris,  1785. 

35 


36        MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

ond  time  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  toward  the  west, 
under  the  patronage  and  support  of  Francis  I,  king  of 
France.  Notwithstanding  the  secret  machinations  of 

o 

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

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


JACQUES  CARTIER 


CARTIER'S  MANOR  HOUSE 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  37 

However,  no  efforts  at  colonization  were  made  on  the 
part  of  France  and  the  financial  losses  of  those  who 
had  promoted  the  previous  voyages  were  such  as  to  dis- 
courage similar  enterprises  for  several  years.  In  1534 
Francis  I,  having  regard  for  the  advantages  which 
might  accrue  to  France  by  finding  a  short  way  to 
the  South  Seas,  persuaded  one  James,  or  Jacques,  Car- 
tier  to  undertake  a  voyage.  He  set  forth  from  St. 
Malo  on  the  2Oth  of  April,  1534,  with  two  ships.  He 
spent  three  or  four  months  exploring  the  Strait  of  Belle 
Isle,  the  coast  of  Labrador,  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence, 
looking  for  the  Northwest  passage,  and  late  in  the  year 
returned  to  France.  In  the  following  year  Cartier  sailed 
again  and  explored  the  St.  Lawrence  river  to  the  present 
site  of  the  city  of  Montreal.  The  natives  whom  he  met 
told  him  of  vast  seas  of  fresh  water  to  the  westward 
and  great  hills  of  copper  and  precious  metals.  But  he 
did  not  push  forward  to  verify  their  stories.  The  coun- 
try had  then  received  the  name  of  New  France.  Car- 
tier  spent  nearly  two  years  in  the  region  and  then 
returned  to  France.  In  1540  he  sailed  again  to  New 
France  and  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence  river.  Jean 
Francois  de  la  Roque,  Sieur  de  Roberval,  was  placed 
in  command  of  this  expedition  and  by  letters  patent  was 
commissioned  Viceroy  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the 
new  lands  belonging  to  France  in  the  western  hemis- 
phere. He  himself  did  not  sail  until  a  year  later  and 
not  until  after  Cartier  had  departed  from  the  country 
on  his  return  to  France. 

Roberval  after  reaching  his  destination  sent  back  two 


38        MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  39 

for  erecting  a  fort.  He  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance 
and  trade  with  the  Hurons,  the  most  friendly  of  the 
Indian  tribes,  a  party  of  which  nation,  200  in  number, 
had  come  on  a  visit.  The  chiefs  of  that  tribe  gave  him 
permission  to  commence  a  settlement  in  their  country. 
In  1613  he  ascended  the  Ottawa  river  nearly  to  its 
source.  In  1615  he  discovered  Lake  Ontario.  In 
friendly  confederation  with  the  Hurons  he  ascended 
the  Ottawa  and  passed  over  to  Lake  Nipissing,  about 
sixty  leagues  northeast  of  Lake  Huron;  then  descend- 
ing southward  he  reached  the  point  of  rendezvous  on 
Lake  Ontario.  He  was  the  first  European  to  navigate 
that  " fresh  water  sea."  He  was  wounded  in  an  engage- 
ment with  the  Iroquois  and  was  obliged  to  spend  the 
winter  among  the  natives.  He  made  himself  acquainted 
with  the  Ontarian  regions  and  visited  the  Neutral 
nation,  a  race  of  natives  which  kept  up  friendly  rela- 
tions with  all  the  battling  tribes  around. 

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


40   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

but  they  were  absolutely  excluded  from  entering  the 
country. 

The  missionary  spirit  took  precedence  of  the  colon- 
izing spirit.  The  Recollet  friars  of  Paris  were  favored 
by  the  authorities  and  four  members  of  that  body 
arrived  at  Quebec  in  1615.  In  1618  Pope  Paul  IV 
accorded,  at  the  instance  of  the  French  ambassador,  the 
charge  of  missions  in  Canada  to  the  Recollets.  They 
visited  the  Hurons  with  Champlain  and  established 
missions  among  that  tribe  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake 
Huron.  As  this  nation  dwelt  in  the  region  spreading 
around  the  shores  and  visited  the  islands  of  the  north- 
ern extremity  of  the  Lake,  it  seems  quite  probable  that 
the  missionaries  were  the  first  white  men  to  view  the 
shores  of  Michigan.  The  statement  has  been  made  by 
his  biographer,  on  what  is  now  regarded  as  doubtful 
authority,  that  Champlain  himself  sailed  down  the  east 
shore  of  Lake  Huron  and  coursed  through  the  con- 
necting waterways  and  the  Strait  of  Detroit  on  his 
return  to  Ontario.  It  seems  certain  that  he  knew  the 
connection  between  Lake  Huron  and  the  lower  lakes, 
though  his  maps  do  not  show  it  with  geographical  accu- 
racy.* 

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


*Campbell.    Political  History  of  Michigan.    Detroit,  1876. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  4! 

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

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


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


42   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


CHAPTER  II 


EARLY  EXPLORATION 


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

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

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

45 


46   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  47 

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

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


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


48   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


*Jesuit  Relations.     V.  L.     Cleveland,  1899. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  49 

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

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

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


1-4 


50   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


LOUIS  TOLIET 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  5  I 

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

It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  here  in  the  spring  of 
1671  was  performed  the  ceremony  of  taking  possession 
in  the  name  of  the  king  of  France  of  all  the  lands 
between  the  east  and  the  west  from  Montreal  to  the 
Sea  of  the  South  (Pacific  ocean) .  Monsieur  Talon,  the 
intendant,  had  been  instructed  by  the  king  to  make 
known  the  name  and  power  of  France  among  the  most 
unknown  and  distant  tribes.  Sieur  de  Saint  Lusson  had 
been  commissioned  for  the  task  and  proceeded  to  the 
sault  where  he  convoked  the  tribes  of  the  surrounding 
country  of  more  than  a  hundred  leagues,  who  in  the 
person  of  their  ambassadors  met  there  to  the  number 
of  fourteen  tribes.*  All  the  preparations  having  been 
made  the  people  were  assembled  for  a  grand  public 
council  on  the  I4th  of  June.  There  Saint  Lusson  caused 
a  cross  to  be  erected  and  there  and  then  had  the  arms 
of  France  hoisted  upon  a  cedar  pole  above  the  cross. 
All  this  was  attended  with  much  ceremony,  prayers  were 
recited,  the  cross  was  blessed,  guns  were  fired,  and  all 
the  Frenchmen  shouted,  "Vive  le  Roi."  Then  Father 
Allouez  delivered  an  oration  in  which  he  told  the 
natives  what  a  great  and  powerful  country  was  France, 
and  what  a  noble  and  mighty  king  ruled  over  it,  and 
what  a  blessed  thing  it  was  for  them  to  become  the  sub- 
jects of  such  a  king  and  country.  Then  Monsieur  de 
Lusson  spoke  and  further  impressed  his  hearers  that 


*Verwyst.     Missionary  labors  of  Marquette,  Menard,  Allouez. 
Chicago,  1886. 


52   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


r. 


I-H 

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OH 
H-  i 
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I 

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MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  53 

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

On  the  I7th  day  of  May,  1673,  the  ice  being  out  of 
the  strait,  the  two  explorers  set  forth  from  St.  Ignace  in 
two  bark  canoes  with  five  French  oarsmen  and  a  supply 
of  provisions.  The  party  coasted  along  the  lower 
shores  of  Lake  Michigan  to  Green  bay.  Thence  they 
pushed  on  by  the  way  of  the  Fox  river  to  Lake  Winne- 
bago  and  thence  by  Wolf  river  to  its  upper  waters,  from 
a  point  upon  which  they  crossed  over  the  divide  which 
separates  the  waters  which  flow  into  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  from  those  which  flow  into  the  Mexican  gulf. 
They  were  soon  embarked  upon  the  Wisconsin  river. 
Down  this  stream  they  floated  until  they  found  them- 
selves upon  the  broad  expanse  of  the  Mississippi. 

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


54   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


*Thwaites.    Father  Marquette.    N.  Y.,  1902. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  55 

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


CHAPTER  III 

LATER  EXPLORATION 


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

59 


60   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  6 1 

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

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

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


62   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  63 

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

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


64   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


CO 

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fe 
O 


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DC 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  65 

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

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

Daniel  Greysolon  du  Lhut,  or  Duluth,  as  he  is  now 
commonly  known,  was  a  native  of  Lyons  and  a  cousin  of 
Tonty.  He  had  come  to  New  France  in  1676,  influ- 


1-6 


66        MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  67 

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

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

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


CHAPTER  IV 


JESUIT  MISSIONARIES 


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

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


72        MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  73 

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

The  Society  of  Jesus  was  founded  by  Ignatius  de 
Loyola  in  1534.  He  was  a  native  of  Spain  and  was  a 
brave  and  dashing  soldier  with  military  tastes  and 
ambition.  At  the  defense  of  Pampeluna  in  1521  a  can- 
non ball  disabled  both  his  legs  and  cut  short  his  mili- 
tary career  in  his  youth.  While  slowly  recovering  from 
his  wounds  he  devoted  his  time  to  reading  and  study. 
His  attention  was  drawn  to  religious  matters,  with  the 
result  that  he  became  deeply  absorbed  in  them.  He 
resolved  to  devote  himself  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
mankind.  Disciples  came  to  his  support  and  in  August, 
1534  they  assembled  in  the  abbey  church1  of  Mont- 
martre  and  each  took  a  solemn  vow  to  go  to  the  holy 
land  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  infidels.  He  instructed 


74   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  75 

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


76   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


*Parkman.    Jesuits  in  North  America.    Boston,  1868. 


JAMES  MARQUETTE 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  77 

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

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


7 8    MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  79 

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

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


80   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  8  I 

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

When  Cadillac  came  west  to  found  his  colony  at 
Detroit  he  was  accompanied  by  only  one  Jesuit,  Father 
Vaillant,  and  he  remained  less  than  a  day.  Constantino 
del  Halle,  a  Franciscan,  came  to  Detroit  as  almoner 
to  the  king's  troops,  and  he  continued  in  charge  at  the 
post  until  he  was  murdered  by  the  Indians  in  1706.  His 
successors  were  La  Marche  and  Deniau,  Recollets. 
These  were  followed  by  priests  of  the  same  order  until 
1782. 

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


1-6 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  SAVAGES  AND  THEIR  INTER-TRIBAL  WARS 


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

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

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

85 


86   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

From  our  first  knowledge  of  affairs  here  there  was 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  87 

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

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


38        MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


INDIAN  CLAY  VESSEL 


INDIAN  WAR  IMPLEMENTS 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  89 

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

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

*Schoolcraft.       Information   respecting  history  of  the   Indian 
races  of  the  United  States.     Philadelphia,  1860. 


90        MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  91 

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

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


92        MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  93 

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

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

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


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  FUR  TRADE  AND  ITS  IMPORTANCE 


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

The  animals  of  North  America  produced  the  finest 
furs  in  the  world.  The  climate  of  the  northernmost 
sections  was  adapted  to  the  growth  and  development  of 
these  animals  under  the  most  perfect  conditions.  Th'e 
beaver,  silver  fox,  red  fox,  wolverine,  fisher,  mink, 
otter,  lynx,  black  bear,  wolf  and  others  were  found  in 
vast  numbers.  Their  skins  had  ready  sale  in  all  the 
centers  of  wealth  and  fashion,  the  world  over.  They 
were  used  for  muffs,  boas,  capes,  robes,  trimmings,  etc., 
and  many  a  noble  princess  was  proud  to  adorn  her  per- 
son with  the  furs  brought  over  seas  from  the  far  inte- 
rior of  America.  We  can  little  appreciate  in  these  days 
when  so  many  interests  of  large  importance  enter  into 
the  commercial  affairs  of  the  world,  how  great  was  the 
single  traffic  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 
It  occupied  the  attention  and  the  capital  of  men  of 
means  and  influence.  Companies  were  formed  to  exploit 
"  97 


98   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  99 

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

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


IOO  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  IOI 

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

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


102  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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

Military  posts  were  established  at  Sault  Ste  Marie, 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          103 

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

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


IO4  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

I 

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

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


*The  grand  portage  was  at  the  northwest  of  Lake  Superior,  from 
a  point  afterward  known  as  Fort  William  toward  Lake  of  the 
Woods. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          105 

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


CHAPTER  VII 


FIRST  FRENCH  ATTEMPTS  AT  COLONIZATION 


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

109 


IIO  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


SAMUEL  DE  CHAMPLAIN 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          III 

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

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


112  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  113 

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

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

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

1-8 


114     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  I 

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

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


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  SETTLEMENTS  AT  SAULT  STE  MARIE  AND  MICH- 

ILIMACKINAC 


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

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

119 


120  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          121 

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

After  a  sojourn  of  a  few  years  here  Repentigny  was 
called  east  by  the  troubles  between  the  French  and  Eng- 
lish. He  left  his  fort  and  little  colony  in  charge  of  his 
lieutenant,  Cadotte,  and  with  an  enlisted  body  of  natives 
went  to  the  aid  of  the  governor.  He  fought  at  the 
head  of  a  regiment  of  Canadians  at  Lake  George  and 
later  he  joined  in  the  defense  of  the  citadel  at  Quebec. 
There  in  1759  the  tide  turned  in  favor  of  the  English 
and  French  rule  disappeared  forever  from  Canada. 
Repentigny  never  returned  to  Sault  Ste  Marie,  but  in 
his  place  came  Lieut.  Jemette  with  a  detachment  of 
British  soldiers.  The  lilies  of  France  which  waved 
above  the  fort  were  lowered  after  an  ascendancy  from 
the  coming  of  St.  Lusson  of  ninety-one  years,  and  the 
red  cross  of  England  was  flung  to  the  breeze.  Although 
Bonne  never  put  in  an  appearance  to  inspect  his  conces- 
sion, long  years  after  his  death  his  heirs  laid  claim  to 
the  lands.  They  sold  his  interests  in  1806  to  one  James 
Caldwell  of  Albany  and  the  matter  became  afterward 
one  of  extended  litigation  and  international  concern.  In 
1860  congress  passed  an  act  to  quiet  the  title,  to  the 
effect  that  if  the  courts  decided  against  the  claimants, 
their  rights  should  be  forever  barred.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  courts  did  so  decide  and  the  later  settlers  found 
their  titles  good. 

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


122  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  123 

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

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

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


124  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  125 

hundred  miles  southward,  on  the  strait  of  the  Detroit, 
to  resist  the  invasions  of  the  hostile  Iroquois  and  to 
stem  the  tide  of  oncoming  commercial  encroachments 
of  the  English.  He  visited  France  and  presented  his 
views  so  convincingly  to  Count  Pontchartrain,  the 
colonial  minister,  that  he  received  a  concession  of  land 
at  Detroit  and  authority  to  establish  a  fort  and  colony 
there  at  once.  The  result  of  this  movement  was  the 
abandonment  of  Michilimackinac.  In  spite  of  the 
remonstrances  of  the  missionaries  the  savages  removed 
to  Detroit  and  the  trade  in  peltries  was  likewise 
diverted.  Charlevoix  writing  in  1721  speaks  of  the 
demoralization  of  the  place  caused  by  the  establishment 
of  the  new  post  at  Detroit.  A  few  soldiers  had  been 
sent  on  in  1714  and  the  garrison  was  revived,  but  the 
post  had  ceased  to  be  a  flourishing  one. 

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


126  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  127 

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

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

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


128  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


community 


CHAPTER  IX 
CADILLAC  AND  His  COLONY 


1-9 


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

Antoine  de  la  Mothe  Cadillac  was  a  native  of  Gas- 
cony,  France,  but  the  precise  place  or  date  of  his  birth 
are  uncertain.  The  record  of  his  marriage  which  took 
place  at  Quebec  June  25,  1687,  gives  his  age  as  about 
twenty-six  years,  the  son  of  M.  Jean  de  la  Mothe, 
sieur  of  the  place  called  Cadillac  of  Launay  and  Ser- 
montel,  Counsellor  of  the  parliament  of  Toulouse,  and 
of  Madam  Jeanne  de  Malenfant.  This  statement 
would  place  the  date  of  his  birth  about  1 66 1.  The  family 
was  evidently  one  of  some  standing.  The  education 
and  opportunities  of  the  youth  must  have  been  good. 
We  first  hear  of  him  in  this  country  at  Quebec  in  1683 


132  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


CADILLAC'S  STATUE 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          133 

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

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


134  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


*N.  Y.  Hist.  Doc.  3. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  135 

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

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


136  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  137 

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

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


138  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

When  Cadillac  came  to  Detroit  he  brought  with  him 
as  a  cadet  his  oldest  son,  Antoine,  a  lad  of  ten  years. 
His  wife  and  other  members  of  his  family  were  left  at 
Quebec  in  the  charge  of  Father  Germain.  In  August, 
1701,  Father  Germain  wrote  to  Cadillac  that  his  wife 
desired  to  join  him  at  once.  Madame  Tonty,  the  wife 
of  Cadillac's  captain,  proposed  to  accompany  her. 
Father  Germain  writes:  "Every  one  here  admires  the 
magnanimity  of  these  two  ladies  who  certainly  have 
courage  to  undertake  so  laborious  a  journey  to  go  and 
join  their  husbands  without  fearing  the  great  difficul- 
ties or  the  fatigue  or  other  inconveniences  which  must 
be  endured  by  roads  so  long  and  so  rough  for  persons 
of  their  sex.  Well,  sir,  is  it  possible  to  show  more  sin- 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  139 

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


*Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  V.  33.     Cadillac  papers. 


140     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  141 

put  ourselves  in  position  to  do  without  provisions  from 
Canada  forever;  and  all  this  undertaking  was  carried 
out  with  three  months'  provisions,  which  I  took  when  I 
set  out  from  Montreal,  which  were  consumed  in  the 
course  of  the  journey.  This  proves  whether  Detroit 
is  a  desirable  or  an  undesirable  country.  Besides  this 
nearly  six  thousand  mouths  of  different  tribes  wintered 
there,  as  every  one  knows.  All  these  proofs,  convinc- 
ing as  they  are,  cannot  silence  the  enemies  of  my  scheme. 
If  the  king  had  the  kindness  to  look  into  this  matter 
well  and  follow  it  up,  numberless  advantages  would  be 
obtained  from  it,  to  the  profit  of  the  state,  the  colony, 
and  religion."  He  argues  the  necessity  for  sending  to 
Detroit,  Frenchmen  with  their  families  who  shall  be 
permanent  settlers.  He  says:  'There  are  at  Detroit 
a  good  fort,  good  dwellings  and  the  means  of  living  and 
subsisting.  It  is  for  you  to  push  this  mat- 

ter about  the  inhabitants  and  to  consider  whether  you 
will  permit  the  inhabitants  of  Canada  to  settle  there; 
to  form  a  seminary  to  begin  to  instruct  the  savage  chil- 
dren in  piety,  in  the  French  language;  to  allow  the 
Recollets  to  settle  in  order  to  discharge  their  functions 
there.  It  is  the  Lord's  vine;  we  must  let  it  be  cul- 
tivated by  all  sorts  of  good  laborers.  For  nearly  a 
hundred  years  it  has  been  labored  at  without  success; 
have  trial  made,  whether  the  methods  which  I  have 
had  the  honor  to  propose  are  not  more  sound."* 


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


142  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          143 

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

Cadillac  made  grants  or  leases  of  small  lots  to 
upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons  at  a  fixed 
annual  rental.  These  were  outside  the  palisades,  on 
the  east  side  of  Randolph  street,  from  the  river  north- 
ward, and  on  both  sides  of  the  street  called  St.  Ann, 
which  was  nearly  on  the  line  of  the  present  Jefferson 
avenue,  extending  from  Griswold  street  to  Wayne. 
Houses  built  upon  these  lots  consisted  of  stakes  driven 
into  the  ground  and  chinked  with  clay,  the  roofs  being 
constructed  of  "shakes/1  or  free  grained  logs  of  oak 
split  into  thin  strips  of  considerable  width,  and  held 
in  place  by  poles  laid  crosswise  and  fastened  at  the 
ends  with  "withes"  of  twisted  green  saplings.  Cadil- 
lac's house  is  believed  to  have  stood  on  the  north  side  of 
the  present  Jefferson  avenue,  about  midway  between 
Griswold  and  Shelby  streets.  Artisans  skilled  in  all 
kinds  of  useful  trades  were  brought  here  and  were 
licensed  to  carry  on  their  business.  The  first  business 
to  which  they  were  required  to  give  attention  was  that 
of  Cadillac  himself,  as  the  lord  of  the  estate.  After 
that  was  taken  care  of  there  was  a  chance  for  others. 
Not  that  he  was  grasping  or  overly  selfish,  but  simply 
that  he  asserted  the  right  to  claim  his  own. 

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


144  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

these  was  undoubtedly  destroyed  in  the  fire  which 
burned  the  church  in  1703.  But  that  of  Marie  Therese, 
under  date  of  February  2,  1704,  appears  in  the  register 
of  old  St.  Ann's  Church,  still  extant.  Several  of  these 
children  died  and  were  buried  in  St.  Ann's  churchyard. 
There  was  a  considerable  influx  of  population  in  the 
summer  of  1706.  Two  Recollet  priests  came  on,  Domi- 
nique de  la  Marche  and  Cherubin  Deniau.  The  former 
kept  the  parish  records  for  many  years.  The  increase 
in  the  population  compelled  the  enlargement  of  the 
palisaded  enclosure.  The  little  settlement  seemed  on 
the  high  road  to  a  wonderful  success.  Its  prosperity, 
however,  stirred  formidable  hostility  in  influential  quar- 
ters. Quebec  and  Montreal  were  jealous  of  its  rapid 
growth  which  had  a  tendency  to  detract  from  theirs. 
The  Company  of  the  Colony  objected  to  the  building 
up  of  an  agricultural  community  and  the  settlement  of 
the  country  to  the  detriment  of  the  fur  business.  The 
Jesuit  missionaries,  always  hostile,  complained  because 
their  mission  at  Michilimackinac  was  broken  up  and 
the  Indians  were  coaxed  away  from  them  to  the  new  post 
at  Detroit.  The  result  of  all  this  hostility  was  a  concerted 
attempt  to  discredit  Cadillac  and  smother  his  enterprise. 
Vaudrieul  was  directed  to  remove  the  garrison,  and  in 
the  summer  of  1711  Dubaisson  was  sent  on  to  carry  this 
order  into  effect,  to  supersede  Cadillac  as  governor, 
and  to  deliver  to  him  a  commission  as  governor  of 
Louisiana.  The  latter  immediately  set  out  for  Que- 
bec whence  he  sailed  for  France,  leaving  his  wife  at 
Detroit  to  look  after  his  property  interests  there. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          145 

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

In  1713  Cadillac  and  his  family  were  conveyed  in 
a  French  frigate  to  Louisiana  where  he  assumed  his 
duties  as  governor.  He  showed  his  natural  activity 
in  his  new  field  of  labor,  but  the  situation  of  affairs 
was  not  wholly  to  his  liking.  After  four  years  of  expe- 
rience here  he  resigned  and  returned  to  France.  He 
was  made  governor  of  Castell  Sarrazin,  where  he  died 
October  18,  1730.  No  portrait  of  the  man  has  ever 
been  discovered ;  neither  have  we  any  authentic  descrip- 
tion of  his  personal  appearance.  He  unquestionably 
possessed  great  mental  and  physical  force.  He  had 
the  foresight  to  perceive  the  importance  of  the  true 
policy  of  France  in  establishing  a  permanent  and  self 
sustaining  colony  in  the  great  lake  region,  and  he  was 
shrewd  enough  to  wisely  choose  the  location  of  such  a 
colony.  It  met  the  needs  of  his  time  and  the  great  and 
flourishing  city  of  Detroit,  the  commercial  and  indus- 
trial metropolis  of  the  populous  State  of  Michigan,  has 

continued  to  demonstrate  the  wisdom  of  his  choice.   He 
1-10 


146     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


CHAPTER  X 
CADILLAC  AS  FEUDAL  LORD 


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

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

149 


150  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


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


LOUIS  XIV 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          151 

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

Louis  saw  to  it  that  even  the  smallest  remnant  of 
power  which  the  nobles  of  France  still  exercised  was 
withheld  from  those  of  rank  over  seas.  The  seigniories 
were  granted  in  every  instance  directly  by  the  crown. 
The  seignior  was  denied  any  voice  whatever  in  the 
direction  of  the  government.  Neither  had  he  any 
authority  to  exact  military  service  from  his  vassal. 
The  governor  called  out  and  controlled  the  militia,  and 
the  lord  of  the  manor  was  as  much  subject  to  this  ser- 
vice as  the  peasant.  The  seigniories  were  transferable 
and  carried  with  them  the  faith  and  homage  due  from 
all  their  subordinates.  An  example  is  cited  in  Fer- 
land,  uNotes  sur  les  Registers  de  Notre  Dame  de 
Quebec,"  of  the  ceremony  of  rendering  faith  and  hom- 
age. It  is  that  of  Jean  Guion,  vassal  of  Gifford,  seig- 
nior of  Beauport.  Guion  presented  himself  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  notary  at  the  principal  door  of  the  manor- 
house  of  Beauport.  One  Boulle,  farmer  of  Gifford, 
opened  the  door  in  response  to  the  knock  and  in  reply 
to  the  question  if  the  seignior  was  at  home,  replied  that 
he  was  not,  but  that  he,  Boulle,  was  empowered  to 
receive  acknowledgments  of  faith  and  homage  from 
the  vassals  in  his  name.  Thereupon  Guion  placed  him- 
self on  his  knees  on  the  ground  with  head  bare  and 


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


152  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  153 

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

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


154  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


*Lettre  de  Denonville  au  Ministre,  Nov.  10,  1686. 
tLettre  du  Duchesnau  au  Ministre,  Nov.  10,  1679. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  155 

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

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


156  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  157 

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

When  Cadillac  was  suddenly  relieved  of  his  com- 
mand in  1711  and  ordered  away  to  his  post  as  gover- 
nor of  Louisiana  an  inventory  of  his,  effects  left  behind 
was  made  by  his  trusted  friend  Peter  Roy.*  In  1718 
after  his  return  to  France  he  complained  to  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  Navy  that  he  had  been  unjustly  treated  and 
had  suffered  financial  loss  by  reason  of  his  removal 
from  Detroit.  He  had  reimbursed  the  Company  for 
their  goods,  with  a  large  profit  added;  at  his  individual 
expense  he  had  provided  transportation  for  two  hun- 
dred soldiers,  had  paid  substantial  wages  to  sixty  Cana- 
dians, had  taken  out  forty  families,  to  some  of  whom 
he  had  advanced  moneys  which  were  not  repaid  to  him ; 
he  had  taken  out  horned  cattle,  oxen  and  cows  and 
nearly  all  sorts  of  domestic  animals;  he  had  brought 
out  a  quantity  of  fruit  trees,  had  built  a  windmill, 
enlarged  the  fort  by  four  other  bastions,  built  houses, 
barns,  ice  houses  and  breweries,  and  did  his  best,  and 
more  than  could  have  been  expected,  to  establish  a  col- 


*A  complete  list  of  all  this  property  appears  in  Pioneer  Collec- 
tions, v.  33  (Cadillac  Papers)  p.  518. 


158  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

When  Cadillac  returned  to  France  he  found  that 
in  his  absence  from  the  country  the  king  had  annulled 
in  1716  his  rights  and  had  reannexed  to  his  domain  all 
the  lands  and  dependencies  at  Detroit,  with  the  exclu- 
sive right  of  trading,  and  had  granted  the  same  to  de 
Tonty,  who  had  then  been  put  into  command  there. 
He  asked  to  be  reimbursed  his  advances  and  expenses, 
with  payment  for  his  services.  The  Council  of  State 
thereupon  in  1722  made  a  decree  that  Cadillac  should 
be  paid  for  the  property  taken  from  him  for  the  king's 
service,  and  that  upon  his  defining  the  boundaries  of 
the  lands  which  he  claimed  the  same  should  be  con- 
firmed to  him.  But  as  it  depended  wholly  upon  the 
testimony  of  de  Tonty,  Du  Buisson  and  others  who  had 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  159 

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

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


160     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

In  1733  ms  widow  and  his  two  sons  asked  permis- 
sion to  return  to  Detroit  in  order  to  settle  it,  with  the 
same  rights  of  trading  originally  granted  to  Cadillac. 
The  petition  of  the  older  son  represents  that  his  father 
having  received  an  order  to  establish  a  post  at  Detroit 
accomplished  it  with  so  much  success  that  he  settled  one 
hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants  there,  took  cattle,  horses, 
had  houses,  a  fort,  a  mill,  a  brewery,  etc.,  erected,  all 
at  an  expense  exceeding  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
livres  which  he  incurred  on  the  promise  to  grant  him  the 
post  as  a  seigniory,  a  brevet  of  which  was  sent  him 
carrying  the  privilege  of  all  seignioral  rights.  Scarcely 
had  he  completed  all  these  labors  when  he  was  sent  as 
governor  to  Louisiana.  Having  returned  from  there  in 
1716  he  asked  permission  to  go  and  continue  the  work 
of  the  settlement  of  Detroit.  But  this  was  refused. 
However,  in  1722  he  was  confirmed  in  the  ownership  of 
the  property,  but  it  has  not  been  possible  to  put  that  de- 
cree into  execution.  The  lands  which  he  had  cleared 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          l6l 

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

infancy  a  less  troublous  career. 
1-11 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  FRENCH  SUCCESSORS  OF  CADILLAC 


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

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


1 66     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  167 

put  in  temporary  charge  and  so  continued  until  La  Foret 
recovered  sufficiently  to  assume  his  duties.  He  remained 
in  command  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Quebec 
in  1714.  Just  before  his  death  he  made  a  report  upon 
the  condition  and  prospects  at  Detroit  in  which  he 
advocated  the  building  up  of  that  post  as  a  military 
necessity  to  withstand  the  encroachments  of  the  Eng- 
lish and  for  the  protection  of  French  interests  in  the 
west.  His  recommendations  did  not  receive  the  atten- 
tion they  deserved. 

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

After  Cadillac's  departure  and  before  the  arrival  of 


1 68  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

La  Foret  the  command  of  the  post  fell  upon  Sieur  Du 
Buisson.  This  period  proved  to  be  a  very  eventful  one, 
as  it  was  signalized  by  the  siege  of  the  fort  and  fero- 
cious attacks  upon  it  in  1712  made  by  the  Fox  and 
Mascoutin  Indians  in  the  absence  of  the  Hurons  and 
Pottawatomies  who  had  loyally  supported  the  French. 
These  events  will  be  dealt  with  more  fully  elsewhere 
from  information  based  upon  a  narrative  of  them  which 
Du  Buisson  himself  prepared  and  which  was  afterward 
translated  into  English  and  published.  He  remained 
as  second  in  command  after  the  arrival  of  La  Foret  and 
succeeded  temporarily  after  the  death  of  the  latter 
until  the  arrival  of  his  successor.  From  1723  to  1727 
he  was  in  command  at  Fort  Miamis  near  the  present 
city  of  Toledo.  In  1729  he  was  in  command  at  Mich- 
ilimackinac. 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          169 

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

The  records  show  that  Sabrevois  was  appointed  to 
the  command  at  Detroit  in  1712.  But  his  appointment 
was  vigorously  opposed  by  the  Chevalier  de  Ramezay, 
who  was  a  powerful  influence  in  the  colony,  and  he 
succeeded  in  holding  it  up  until  1715.  In  the  mean- 
time La  Foret  continued  in  authority  until  his  death 
in  1714,  and  in  the  interval  after  his  death  until  the 
arrival  of  Sabrevois,  Du  Buisson  was  acting  comman- 
dant. Sabrevois  commanded  only  two  years.  Upon 
his  arrival  he  called  the  inhabitants  together  and  pointed 
out  the  dilapidated  and  unsafe  condition  of  the  fort. 
He  proposed  that  all  join  in  improving  it  for  mutual 
safety.  This  was  agreed  to  on  the  part  of  some. 
Thereupon  Sabrevois  proceeded  with  the  work.  Those 
who  had  agreed  with  him  to  share  the  expense  backed 
out  and  he  was  left  to  foot  the  bills  alone.  He  asked 
the  government  to  come  to  his  relief  but  this  was  never 
done.  He  was,  possibly  as  a  recognition  of  his  services, 
made  a  chevalier  of  the  military  order  of  St.  Louis. 
From  1721  to  1724  he  was  commandant  at  Fort 
Chambly.  Here  he  was  visited  by  Charlevoix,  then 


1 70  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

traveling  through  the  country  and  writing  letters,  after- 
ward published.  In  one  of  them  he  speaks  in  very 
complimentary  terms  of  Sabrevois.  The  latter  was 
afterwards  major  of  Montreal,  where  he  died  in  1727. 
He  was  succeeded  at  Detroit  in  1717  by  Alphonse 
de  Tonty,  who  now  appears  again  upon  the  stage  of 
local  history  on  which  he  had  previously  cut  something 
of  a  figure.  He  had  formerly  left  under  a  cloud  of 
unpopularity,  as  it  were,  and  it  does  not  appear  exactly 
clear  what  influences  led  to  his  re-appointment.  He 
was  known  to  be  grasping  and  selfish  and  certainly 
unscrupulous.  The  manner  in  which  he  and  others,  per- 
haps under  his  influence,  treated  the  family  and  prop- 
erty rights  of  Cadillac  was,  to  say  the  least,  anything 
but  honorable.  Under  his  new  regime  he  showed  his 
former  selfish  characteristics  in  exaggerated  form.  He 
joined  with  himself  a  few  of  the  citizens  to  monopolize 
the  trade.  He  had  promised  great  reforms,  but  they 
did  not  materialize.  He  was  evidently  a  man  of  energy 
and  persistency.  He  entirely  reconstructed  the  fort 
and  made  it  one  of  the  best  of  the  kind  in  the  country. 
In  this  work  he  had  spent  a  great  deal  of  money  and 
had  incurred  considerable  debts.  Possibly  he  felt  jus- 
tified in  imposing  on  the  inhabitants  to  any  extent  which 
their  good  nature  would  bear.  But  he  made  himself 
so  obnoxious  that  charges  were  preferred  against  him 
and  he  was  obliged  in  the  winter  of  1721-22  to  go  to 
Quebec  to  defend  himself.  Nothing  resulted  from  the 
charges.  In  1724  he  was  again  called  to  Quebec  to 
answer  summons  to  a  suit  brought  by  one  La  Marque, 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          171 

who  had  purchased  some  of  the  property  of  Cadillac. 
Nothing  came  of  it.  On  his  return  he  was  met  by 
infuriated  citizens  who  denounced  him  and  demanded 
his  recall.  This  time  the  Huron  Indians  joined  their 
voices  with  the  exasperated  whites  and  added  a  threat 
to  remove  altogether  from  the  place.  This  was  too 
serious  for  the  government  to  ignore.  Beauharnois, 
the  new  governor,  at  once  ordered  de  Tonty's  removal, 
but  for  the  purpose  of  letting  him  down  easy,  gave  it 
out  that  he  would  retire  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  in 
the  following  spring.  He  was  greatly  chagrined  over 
this  decision  of  the  government,  and  this  is  believed 
to  have  some  bearing  upon  his  death  which  occurred  at 
Detroit  Nov.  10,  1727. 

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

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


172  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

were  born.  He  was  an  officer  of  marine  and  rose  to 
the  rank  of  captain.  He  had  taken  part  in  wars  with 
the  Indians  and  in  raids  across  the  New  England  bord- 
ers. In  1716  he  was  sent  west  with  an  expedition  which 
was  to  assemble  friendly  Indians  at  Michilimackinac  to 
proceed  to  Wisconsin  and  bring  the  Fox  Indians  to 
terms.  The  expedition  was  successful  and  on  acount 
of  his  services  therein  Deschaillons  was  appointed  in 
1719  commandant  at  Fort  St.  Joseph.  Here  he 
remained  only  a  year  and  then  returned  to  Montreal. 
Although  he  came  to  Detroit  as  commandant  in  1728, 
there  is  no  mention  of  him  in  the  records  of  St.  Ann's 
at  any  subsequent  time,  from  which  it  is  inferred  that 
his  stay  did  not  exceed  a  year. 

Louis  Henry  Deschamps,  Sieur  de  Boishebert,  came 
to  Detroit  as  comandant  early  in  1730.  He  was  a 
native  of  Quebec  where  he  was  born  in  1679.  He 
entered  the  army  in  his  youth  and  served  under  Vau- 
dreuil  in  his  campaigns  against  the  Iroquois,  which 
resulted  in  a  treaty  by  which  the  French  were  permitted 
to  go  to  their  western  posts  by  way  of  the  lower  lakes 
and  Niagara,  instead  of  the  Ottawa  and  Lake  Nipissing 
route.  Cadillac  came  to  Detroit  in  1701  by  this  latter 
route,  but  a  year  later,  in  consequence  of  this  treaty  with 
the  Iroquois,  Madame  Cadillac  and  party  were  permit- 
ted to  come  by  the  way  of  Niagara.  Boishebert  was 
employed  as  an  engineer  upon  the  fortifications  of 
Quebec  in  1711  and  1712,  and  in  the  following  year 
made  a  map  of  the  coast  of  Labrador.  From  the 
completion  of  this  work  he  was  adjutant  of  Quebec  foi 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          173 

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

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

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


174  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          175 

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


176  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

When  Celoron  retired  in  1 743  he  was  succeeded  by 
Paul  Joseph  Le  Moyne,  Chevalier  de  Longueuil.  He 
was  one  of  the  celebrated  Le  Moyne  family  and  was 
born  in  1701.  He  came  to  Detroit  in  1743  and 
remained  in  command  until  1748,  when  he  became  sec- 
ond in  command,  probably  to  Celoron,  who  was  re- 
turned on  account  of  the  importance  of  the  post  in  those 
troublous  times  and  the  confidence  which  the  govern- 
ment had  in  his  ability.  It  seems  likely  that  upon  his 
retirement  the  post  fell  to  Jacques  Pierre  Daneau,  Sieur 
de  Muy,  who  was  transferred  thither  from  St.  Joseph 
where  he  had  been  in  command  for  some  time.  He  was 
something  of  a  student  and  naturalist  and  published  in 
Paris  the  results  of  his  observations  upon  the  plants 
found  in  this  part  of  the  country.  The  exact  period  of 
his  command  at  Detroit  is  uncertain,  but  the  records  of 
St.  Ann's  church  mention  his  death  and  interment  here 
1758.  His  immediate  successor  was  Jean  Baptiste 
Henry  Beranger,  who  had  been  second  in  command  and 
who  temporarily  succeeded  his  chief. 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          177 

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

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

1-12 


178  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


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


CHAPTER  XII 

DANGERS  WHICH  SURROUNDED  THE  NEW 

SETTLEMENTS 


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

181 


I  82     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  183 

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


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


I  84     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

ings  which  inspired  d'Aigrement.  He  was  hostile  to  the 
colony  at  Detroit,  and  ready  to  lend  his  influence  to  its 
suppression.  The  effect  of  his  accusations  was  offset  to 
a  great  degree  by  Cadillac's  statement  in  reply,  as  well 
as  by  the  petition  signed  by  all  the  residents  of  Detroit, 
sustaining  their  commandant,  by  the  letters  of  Father 
Constantine,  and  by  M.  de  Ramezay,  governor  of  Mon- 
treal, who  commended  Cadillac  in  unequivocal  terms.* 
The  war  between  France  and  England  had  a  most 
disastrous  effect  upon  the  colonies  in  America.  Both  na- 
tions tampered  with  the  Indians  and  sought  to  win  their 
support.  This  had  a  tendency  to  make  the  natives  wav- 
ering and  uncertain  in  their  allegiance.  They  were  nat- 
urally treacherous,  suspicious  of  the  motives  and  pur- 
poses of  their  white  neighbors,  and  the  latter  suffered 
the  unhappy  results  of  this  condition  of  affairs.  Cadil- 
lac, appears  to  have  had  the  confidence  and  good  will  of 
the  savages,  but  no  sooner  had  he  departed  than  trou- 
bles thickened  for  the  dwellers  at  Fort  Pontch  art  rain. 
Through  the  intrigues  of  the  English  the  Iroquois 
planned  to  surprise  and  capture  Detroit.  This  scheme 
was  to  be  carried  into  effect  through  the  Ottagamies  and 
Mascoutins  who  dwelt  in  the  Green  Bay  region.  These 
were  hereditary  enemies  of  the  Hurons,  who  supported 
the  French  interests  and  who  formed  considerable  vil- 
lages about  the  post  at  Detroit.  The  invaders  came  on 
in  large  numbers  early  in  May,  1712,  and  encamped 
just  outside  the  fort.  Their  arrival  was  entirely  unex- 


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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          185 

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

A  courier  was  sent  post  haste  to  notify  the  absent 
Hurons  and  Ottawas  and  persuade  them  to  hurry  their 
return.  The  garrison  was  kept  in  a  constant  state  of 
anxiety  and  alarm  by  the  assaults  of  the  savages.  The 
cabin  of  an  Ottawa  near  the  gate  of  the  fort  was  fired 
and  great  exertions  were  necessary  to  save  the  spreading 
of  the  flames  to  the  fort  itself.  Dubuisson  in  making 
report  of  the  affair  says  that  on  the  I3th  of  May,  while 
impatiently  awaiting  the  return  of  the  friendly  Hurons 
Mr.  DeVincennes  arrived  from  the  Miami  country  with 
seven  or  eight  Frenchmen.  Not  long  thereafter  he  had 
advices  that  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas  had  arrived  and 
were  in  a  state  of  great  indignation  against  the  invading 
savages.  The  commandant  through  Mr.  De  Vincennes 
undertook  to  arrange  a  settlement  of  the  affair  without 
bloodshed.  But  this  did  not  prove  to  be  feasible.  Con- 
tinuing his  report  the  commandant  says:  "I  then  closed 
the  gates  of  the  fort  and  divided  my  few  Frenchmen 


I  86     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          187 

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

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


I  88     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          189 

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


190     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


*Report  of  Dubuisson  to  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  Governor 
General  of  New  France,  June  15,  1712. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  191 

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

No  sooner  was  the  affair  above  referred  to  over  than 
rumors  came  of  a  fresh  attack  from  the  Kickapoos,  who 
lived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee.  The  allies  who  de- 
fended the  fort  against  the  Mascoutins  having  scattered 
there  appeared  an  opening  for  another  onslaught.  This 
tribe  had  got  itself  into  trouble  with  the  whites  through 
abuse  of  some  missionaries  and  other  Frenchmen  who 
had  visited  their  country.  The  adventurous  white  man 
traveling  through  the  woods  or  the  solitary  Indian  with 
his  family  venturing  into  the  demesne  of  a  hostile  or 
uncertain  tribe  were  (liable  to  be  murdered.  These 
crimes  called  for  retaliation  and  revenge  on  the  part  of 
the  friends  of  the  victim.  So  there  was  constant  excite- 
ment and  uncertainty.  The  wandering  tribes  might 
make  their  appearance  any  day  and  nobody  could  know 
upon  what  mischief  they  Were  bent.  In  1706,  a  band  of 
young  Ottawas  came  along  eager  for  a  fray  and  de- 
termined to  attack  the  fort  and  drive  off  the  French. 
Father  Constantine  de  1'Halle,  the  Recollet  pastor  of  St. 
Ann's  was  working  in  his  garden  outside  the  enclosure, 
unconscious  of  their  presence  or  purpose.  They  seized, 
bound  and  stabbed  him.  Their  chief  ordered  his  release 
and  told  him  to  go  into  the  fort.  As  he  was  doing  so 
he  was  shot  and  killed.  A  Frenchman  named  La  Riv- 
iere was  also  killed.  Their  bodies  lay  where  they  fell 
for  some  time  before  the  French  dared  venture  forth  to 
recover  them  for  burial. 


192  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          193 

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

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

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

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

1-13 


194  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

A  Huron  mission  had  been  established  at  an  early 
day  and  it  continued  for  many  years  under  the  charge 
of  Father  de  la  Richardie  on  Bois  Blanc  Island  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Detroit  river.  At  one  period  the  threat- 
ening attitude  of  the  Indians  became  so  alarming  that  a 
proposition  was  seriously  made  to  remove  thither  the 
entire  fort  and  settlement  of  Detroit.  But  it  evidently 
never  got  much  beyond  the  stage  of  suggestion.  The 
attitude  of  the  Indians  was  largely  due  to  the  intrigues 
of  the  English.  In  fact,  the  English  themselves  were 
pushing  westward  and  when  they  undertook  to  open  up 
trade  at  White  river  and  in  the  Wabash  country  the 
French  at  Detroit  felt  that  defensive  measures  could  not 
be  too  speedily  set  on  foot.  In  1 744-^45  matters  seemed 
to  be  approaching  a  climax  and  it  was  only  by  the  most 
vigorous  efforts  to  thwart  the  English  designs  that  act- 


*Campbeirs  Political  History  of  Michigan. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          195 

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


CHAPTER  XIII 

COMMERCIAL  RIVALRY  BETWEEN  THE  FRENCH  AND 

ENGLISH 


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

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

199 


200     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          2OI 

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

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


202  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

• 

post  and  built  a  stone  fort,  where  they  remained 
through  the  winter.  In  the  spring  they  returned,  going 
first  to  Boston  and  thence  to  London. 

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


*Bryce,  History  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company.    N.  Y.,  1900. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          203 

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

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


204  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  205 

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

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

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


206  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  207 

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


208     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


i  CHAPTER  XIV 

BORDER  WARS  OF  THE  COLONISTS 


i-u 


IN  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  and  early  half 
of  the  eighteenth  centuries  England  and  France 
were  almost  continually  embroiled  in  wars  with 
each  other  or  with  their  continental  neighbors, 
with  whom  one  side  or  the  other  was  allied. 
The  American  colonies  could  scarcely  avoid  being  drawn 
into  the  conflict.    The  settlers  in  New  England  felt  it  a 
duty  they  owed  the  home  government  to  support  its  ef- 
forts in  the  field  by  harassing  their  French  neighbors, 
especially  since  the  sentiment  of  one  toward  the  other 
was  not  overlv  kind,  at  best.     The  French  of  Canada 

* 

were  also  eager  to  forward  the  interests  of  their  native 
country  by  threatening  their  neighbors  to  the  southward 
with  the  terrors  of  invasion.  Among  the  earliest  of 
these  wars  which  affected  the  colonies  seriously  was  that 
known  as  William  and  Mary's  war.  This  was  purely  a 
European  dispute  and  the  colonies  were  drawn  into  it 
only  incidentally.  The  peace  of  Ryswick  gave  all  par- 
ties a  chance  for  much  needed  rest.  But  it  was  of  short 
duration.  The  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  found 
France  and  England  again  at  each  others'  throats  in 
what  is  known  as  Queen  Anne's  war,  and  for  the  next 
twelve  years  New  England  was  harrowed  with  border 
raids  of  Frenchmen  from  Canada  and  their  merciless 
Indian  allies.  The  colonists  defended  themselves  as 
best  they  could  and  sought  reprisal  in  the  way  then  best 
available — an  onslaught  on  Acadia  and  New  Found- 
land. 

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

211 


212     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

life.  Scarcely  a  hamlet  of  the  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire  borders  escaped.  But  strange  to  say,  the 
passive  New  Englanders  attempted  no  counter-raids 
upon  Canada.  However,  a  scheme  was  hatched  a  little 
later  to  send  a  sufficient  force  to  capture  Quebec  and  so 
subdue  Canada  and  put  an  end  to  the  strife.  With  the 
active  aid  of  England  an  expedition  was  fitted  out,  but 
it  was  a  futile  attempt.  The  peace  of  Utrecht  in  1712 
put  an  end  to  hostilities  and  gave  another  breathing 
spell.  This  restored  the  regions  previously  captured 
by  one  party  or  the  other,  except  that  England  was  to 
retain  Nova  Scotia.  But  the  truce  was  short  lived.  The 
state  of  feeling  was  such  that  it  was  becoming  more  and 
more  evident  that  such  a  thing  as  permanent  peace  and 
harmony  between  the  rival  nations  in  America  was  a 
practical  impossibility.  The  French  were  continually 
exerting  themselves  to  extend  their  dominions.  In  1721 
they  made  large  grants  of  land  on  Lake  Champlain  and 
also  built  a  fort  at  Crown  Point.  They  also  took  meas- 
ures to  establish  their  claims  to  the  country  southward 
of  the  great  lakes  and  west  of  the  Ohio.  La  Salle  had 
traversed  this  region  fifty  years  before  and  so  gave  them 
a  semblance  of  right  by  discovery.  They  establish  Fort 
Duquesne  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  city  of  Pitts- 
burg,  for  the  purpose  of  defending  their  claims  to  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  as  the  natural  channel  of  commun- 
ication for  them  between  Louisiana  and  Canada.  The 
belligerent  measures  of  the  French  led  the  English  col- 
onies to  engage  in  counter  movements. 

It  was  becoming  certain  that  the  clash  of  arms  in 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          213 

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

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


214     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          215 

try  to  supply  forage.    The  troops,  especially  the  regu- 
lars, were  quite  unused  to  such  campaigning. 

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


2l6     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


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MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  2  1 7 

ported  by  Washington,  exerted  himself  for  the  re-organi- 
zation of  the  expedition  to  renew  the  attack  upon  the 

• 

fort.  But  Colonel  Dunbar,  upon  whom  the  command 
of  the  regular  troops  devolved,  marched  them  off  to 
Philadelphia  and  left  the  frontiersmen  to  shift  for  them- 
selves. The  result  was  as  had  been  foreseen;  the  coun- 
try was  ravaged  in  the  most  barbarous  fashion. 

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


2l8     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  2  19 

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

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

To  Governor  Shirley  of  Massachusetts  had  been  as- 
signed the  capture  of  Forts  Frontenac  and  Niagara.  He 

was  a  major-general  and  after  the  death  of  Braddock 


*N.  Y.  Colonial  Documents,  Vol.  6. 


220  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

the  command  of  the  militia  devolved  upon  him.  His 
army  for  the  campaign  was  assembled  at  Albany  at  the 
same  time  that  the  Crown  Point  army  was  encamped 
near  that  city.  His  force  had  not  been  recruited  to  the 
extent  intended.  It  consisted  of  a  regiment  from  New 
Jersey  and  known  as  the  Jersey  Blues,  together  with  two 
regiments  paid  by  the  king  and  known  as  regulars, 
though  in  reality  raw  recruits,  raised  wherever  men 
could  be  found  to  enlist.  They  were  utterly  untried  and 
though  fairly  fell  equipped,  found  their  commissariat 
and  bureau  of  transportation  quite  unequal  to  the  de- 
mands. Thev  numbered  about  fifteen  hundred  all  told. 

* 

It  does  not  appear  that  there  were  any  Indian  allies  at- 
tached to  this  expedition.  No  time  was  wasted  in  de- 
parting for  the  scene  of  operations  and  the  whole  army 
'.vas  soon  assembled  at  Oswego.  Here  there  was  exas- 
perating delay  in  the  matter  of  transportation  and  sup- 
plies. Fort  Frontenac  was  fifty  miles  away  across  the 
lake.  To  reach  it  required  many  boats  and  men  skilled 
in  navigating  them.  Moreover  at  Frontenac  was  a 
French  force  of  fourteen  hundred  regulars  and  Cana- 
dians, well  provided  with  everything  necessary,  includ- 
ing vessels  for  crossing  the  lake  and  attacking  Oswego. 
Here  was  presented  to  Shirley  a  puzzling  problem. 
With  his  small  force  and  limited  means  of  transporta- 
tion to  cross  the  lake  and  attack  a  fortified  place,  garri- 
soned with  experienced  veterans  seemed  a  foolhardy 
thing.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  should  pass  on  to>  Ni- 
agara the  French,  who  knew  all  about  the  plan  of  cam- 
paign through  papers  captured  from  Braddock,  could 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  221 

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

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

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


222  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          223 

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


CHAPTER  XV 
FINAL  SUCCESS  OF  THE  ENGLISH 


1-16 


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

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

227 


228     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          229 

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

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


230     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  23 1 

had  been  rendered  almost  impassable  by  the  heavy 
rains  and  snows,  the  English  determined  to  push  on 
with  a  force  large  enough  to  make  success  certain.  On 
the  1 8th  of  November  an  army  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  picked  men  in  light  order  set  forth  under  the 
leadership  of  Bouquet  and  Washington,  Forbes  being 
brought  along  on  a  litter.  A  week  later  they  arrived 
at  the  fort,  but  no  enemy  was  in  sight.  On  the  night  of 
the  24th  de  Ligueris  blew  up  his  magazines,  set  fire  to 
the  fort,  and  with  his  five  hundred  men  took  to  their 
boats  and  made  good  their  escape.  On  the  25th  Wash- 
ington planted  the  British  flag  on  the  smoking  ruina 
which  the  French  had  abandoned.  For  the  protection 
of  the  troops  a  stockade  was  built  which  later  was  made 
into  a  fort  and  the  place  was  called  Pittsburgh  in  honor 
of  the  great  minister  whose  energetic  support  had  made 
this  triumph  possible.  Thus  disappeared  the  last  ves^ 
tige  of  French  domination  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  .. 
A  success  of  almost  equal  importance  in  the  same  year 
was  the  capture  of  Fort  Frontenac  by  Lieut.-Col.  Brad- 
street.  The  expedition  was  undertaken  against  the 
advice  of  Lord  Abercrombie,  but  with  the  enthusiasts 
support  of  Lord  Howe.  Bradstreet  was  given  a  force 
of  three  thousand  men  almost  wholly  provincials.  He 
proceeded  up  the  Mohawk  and  down  the  Onondaga 
to  the  dismantled  fort  of  Oswego.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  a  few  Indians  of  the  Oneida  tribe.  On  the 
22d  of  August  the  whole  army  embarked  on  whale- 
boats  and  bateaux,  and  four  days  later  made  a  lodge- 
ment without  resistance  within  a  few  hundred  yards 


MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          233 

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


234  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          235 

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

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


236  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  237 

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

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


238  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          239 

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


240  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


VIEW  OF  QUEBEC  (1759) 


DEATH  OF  WOLFE 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          241 

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


1-16 


242     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


CHAPTER  XVI 


EFFECT  UPON  THE  INDIANS  OF  THE  LAKE  REGION 


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

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

245 


246  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          247 

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

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


248     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          249 

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


*Rogers'  Journals.    Concise  account  of  North  America. 


250  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

On  the  22d  Rogers  despatched  a  messenger,  Lieuten- 
ant Brehme,  with  a  note  to  Captain  de  Bellestre,  com- 
manding at  Detroit,  informing  him  of  the  capitulation, 
of  his  orders  from  General  Amherst  to  take  possession 
of  Detroit  and  the  other  posts  of  the  district,  and  of  the 
fact  that  he  had  for  delivery  to  Captain  Bellestre  a  let- 
ter from  Governor  Vaudreuil.  While  delaying  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  to  parley  with  the  large  number  of 
Indians  who  had  assembled  there  Rogers  received 
through  Monsieur  Baby  a  letter  from  Bellestre  in  which 
he  acknowledges  receipt  of  Rogers'  note,  but  says  that 
having  no  interpreter  he  is  not  able  to  fully  make  it 
out.  He  asks  that  Vaudreuil's  letter  be  forwarded  to 
him  and  he  will  govern  himself  accordingly.  There 
was  some  evidence  that  the  Indians  had  been  instigated 
by  Bellestre  to  attack  the  English,  or  at  least  to  make 
themselves  as  troublesome  as  possible.  It  was  a  cause  of 
no  small  anxiety  on  the  part  of  Rogers  and  his  insig- 
nificant party,  and  it  required  no  little  diplomacy  on  his 
part  to  avoid  an  open  rupture.  He  moved  on  by  easy 
stages  to  the  mouth  of  the  Raisin,  where  he  stopped 
for  a  day  or  two,  and  thence  on  up  the  river  to  a  point 
within  a  mile  of  the  fort.  In  the  meantime  corres- 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  251 

pondence  passed  back  and  forth  between  the  two  officers, 
and  it  appeared  that  the  Indians  had  been  advised  by 
the  French  commandant  to  arm  themselves  for  self- 
protection,  in  case  it  should  appear,  as  had  been 
rumored,  that  the  natives  following  in  the  wake  of  the 
English  troops  were  bent  on  plunder.  Soon  after  land- 
ing near  the  fort  on  the  2 9th  of  November  a  reply  was 
received  from  Bellestre  to  the  effect  that  he  yielded  to 
the  commands  of  the  English.  Lieutenants  Leffic  and 
McCormick  with  a  party  of  thirty-six  Royal  Americans 
were  sent  to  take  possession  of  the  fort.  The  French 
garrison  surrendered  their  arms  and  the  French  colors 
on  the  flag  staff  were  run  down  and  the  English  flag  was 
raised  amid  the  shouts  of  the  seven  hundred  Indians 
gathered  about.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  real 
sentiments  of  the  savages  they  were  shrewd  enough  to 
see  that  they  were  helpless  to  change  the  course  of 
events,  and  that  it  was  good  policy  for  them  to  hail  the 
rising  sun. 

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


252  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          253 

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

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


254  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          255 

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

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


256  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

So  disturbed  was  the  state  of  mind  among  the  Indians 
that  it  became  apparent  early  in  the  summer  of  1761 
to  Captain  Campbell,  then  in  command  at  Detroit,  that 
trouble  of  a  serious  character  was  brewing.  Forthwith 
he  despatched  messengers  to  General  Amherst  and  to  the 
commandants  at  Forts  Pitt  and  Niagara  warning  them 
of  the  situation  and  the  dangers  which  threatened.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  the  garrison  at  Michilimackinac  was 
surprised  by  a  ruse,  and  many  were  massacred,  the  rest 
being  carried  0$  into  capitvity.  A  similar  attack  at 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  257 

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


*Carver.    Travels  through  interior  parts  of  North  America. 
1-17 


258  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE 


259 


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


CHAPTER  XVII 

PONTIAC  PLANS  TO  WIPE  OUT  THE  ENGLISH 

INVADERS 


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

263 


264     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


PO  NTI  AC. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  265 

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

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


266  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          267 

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

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


268     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

Pontiac  called  a  council  of  his  warriors.  This  was  held 
at  an  appointed  spot  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Ecorces, 
a  short  distance  below  Detroit.  Thither  came  all  the 
tribes  until  there  was  an  immense  village  of  their  wig- 
wams. On  the  2yth  of  April,  1763,  all  the  warriors 
were  summoned  and  Pontiac  addressed  them  in  his  most 
impassioned  manner.  An  account  of  this  council  writ- 
ten by  a  priest  of  Detroit  at  the  time  has  been  pre- 
served in  the  archives  of  the  State  Historical  Society. 
From  contemporary  evidence  it  is  believed  to  be  trust- 
worthy. He  reports  Pontiac  as  saying:  l<It  is  import- 
ant, my  brothers,  that  we  should  exterminate  from  our 
land  this  nation,  whose  only  object  is  our  death.  You 
must  all  be  sensible  as  well  as  myself  that  we  can  no 
longer  supply  our  wants  in  the  way  we  were  accustomed 
to  do  with  our  fathers,  the  French.  They  sell  us  their 
goods  at  double  the  prices  the  French  made  us  pay,  and 
yet  their  merchandise  is  good  for  nothing.  Neither  will 
they  let  us  have  them  on  credit,  as  our  brothers,  the 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          269 

French,  used  to  do.    When  I  visit  the  English  chief  and 
inform  him  of  the  death  of  any  of  our  comrades,  instead 

• 

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

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


270  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          271 

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

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


l 

*Carver.    Travels  through  the  interior  parts  of  North  America. 


272  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          273 

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

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


M8 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

COMPLETE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  SAVAGES 


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

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

277 


278  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          279 

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

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


28O     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE.  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

Early  during  hostilities  Pontiac  formally  demanded 
the  surrender  of  the  fort,  accompanying  his  demand 
with  the  offer  to  permit  all  the  garrison  to  retire  upon 
the  vessels  in  the  harbor,  and  offering  as  the  alternative 
the  well  known  treatment  which  the  Indians  accord  their 
captives  in  war.  To  this  Gladwin  sent  a  defiant  nega- 
tive. The  attacks  were  renewed  with  increased  vim- 
lance.  The  savages  were  reinforced  by  one  hundred 
and  fifty  Ojibwas  from  Grand  River.  These  fresh  ar- 
rivals were1  eager  for  the  fray  while  the  men  in  the  fort 
were  nearly  exhausted  with  their  ceaseless  vigilance.  For 
weeks,  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  the  soldiers  walked  guard 
and  slept  upon  the  ramparts.*  To  make  the  situation 
worse,  the  supply  of  provisions  was  running  short.  In 
fact,  the  garrison  must  have  been  completely  starved 
out,  but  for  the  assistance  of  the  French,  especially  of 
Mr.  Baby  and  others  living  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  who  under  cover  of  night  brought  over  in  boats 


*Rogers.    Journal  of  the  siege  of  Detroit. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          281 

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


282  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          283 

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

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


*Parkman.     Conspiracy  of  Pontiac. 


284     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


ROBERT  ROGERS 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  285 

one  of  the  two  savages  killed  in  the  attack  upon  the  en- 
trenchments. Lieutenant  McDougall,  who-  was  taken  a 
prisoner  at  the  same  time  with  Captain  Campbell,  had 
previously  found  means  to  escape,  or  he  too  would 
doubtless  have  fallen  a  victim  to  the  rage  of  the  savage. 
Late  in  July  the  garrison  was  cheered  by  the  arrival 
of  Captain  Dalzell  with  twenty-two  barges  bearing  two 
hundred  and  eighty  men  with  several  cannon  and  an 
abundant  supply  of  provisions  and  ammunition.  The 
men  comprised  detachments  from  the  Fifty-fifth  and 
Eightieth  regulars  and  twenty  Independent  Rangers  un- 
der command  of  Major  Rogers.  The  party  was  at- 
tacked by  the  Indians  from  the  shore  just  below  the  fort 
and  fifteen  of  the  soldiers  were  killed  or  wounded.  The 
barracks  in  the  fort  could  not  accommodate  these  fresh 
troops  and  they  were  quartered  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town.  The  day  after  their  arrival  Captain  Dalzell 
held  a  conference  with  Major  Gladwin  and  proposed  an 
attack  in  force  upon  Pontiac's  camp.  This  camp  had 
now  been  removed  from  near  the  mouth  of  Parent's 
Creek  to  a  marsh  some  two  or  three  miles  above.  The 
plans  of  the  English  officer  had  not  been  kept  entirely 
secret  and  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  some  of  the 
French  were  betrayed  to  Pontiac.  At  two  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  July  3ist  the  detachment  two  hundred 
and  fifty  strong  set  out  for  the  camp.  They  moved  along 
the  road  which  ran  parallel  with  the  river  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  shore.  Two  large  batteaux  with  mounted 
guns  moved  up  to  the  river  simultaneously.  Unsuspic- 
ious of  the  fact,  the  English  marched  under  the  observa- 


286  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          287 

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

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

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


288     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          289 

cedure  intended  to  conciliate  the  Indian  tribes  and  estab- 
lish settled  peace.  This  plan  was  taken  up  by  the  British 
government  and  put  into  execution.  It  contemplated  a 
treaty  with  each  of  the  separate  tribes  by  which,  for  suit- 
able compensation,  they  would  agree  to  alienate  their  ti- 
tle to  certain  lands  which  could  then  be  thrown  open  to 
actual  settlement  by  whites.  Before  this  could  be  car- 
ried into  effect,  however,  it  was  essential  to  subdue  the 
hostile  tribes  by  force  of  arms.  For  this  purpose  two 
armies  were  raised.  The  first  was  placed  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Bouquet  with  orders  to  proceed  to 
Fort  Pitt  and  from  that  as  a  base  of  operations  to  chas- 
tise the  adjacent  tribes.  The  second  army  was  given  in 
charge  of  Colonel  Bradstreet  to  ascend  the  lakes  and 
subjugate  the  savages  at  Detroit  and  beyond.  He  ar- 
rived at  Detroit  near  the  end  of  August  and  never  was 
relief  more  cordiallv  welcomed.  For  fifteen  months  the 

0 

beleagured  garrison  had  suffered  untold  hardships  and 
privations.  It  was  now  relieved  and  the  new  army  took 
its  place  on  the  ramparts.  Negotiations  were  at  once 
opened  with  the  various  tribes.  Councils  were  held  and 
moderation  and  conciliation  characterised  all  their  pro- 
ceedings. The  savages  had  been  thoroughly  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  there  was  to  be  no  trifling;  that  they 
must  acknowledge  the  sovereignty  of  the  king  of  Eng- 
land. The  last  glimmer  of  hope  of  the  restoration  of 
the  power  of  France  had  faded.  The  tribes  came  in  and 
signed  the  treaty  and  thereafter  the  king  of  England,  in- 
stead of  the  king  of  France,  was  the  acknowledged  fath- 


290  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

er,  and  by  the  same  token  all  Englishmen  became  broth- 
ers. 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  29 1 

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


CHAPTER  XIX 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  COLONY  UNDER  THE  IMPROVED 

CONDITIONS 


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

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

295 


296     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          297 

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

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


298  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          299 

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

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


300     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          301 

got  a  seine.  Hunting  and  fowling  afford  food  to  num- 
bers who  are  nearly  as  lazy  as  the  savages  who  are  rare- 
ly prompted  to  the  chase  till  hunger  pinches  them.  The 
soil  is  so  good  that  great  crops  are  raised  by  careless  and 
very  ignorant  farmers.  Wheat,  Indian  corn,  barley, 
oats,  peas,  buckwheat  yield  a  great  increase.  Yet  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  yet  as  a  piece  of  land  laid  down  for 
meadow  and  the  last  winter  indeed,  a  remarkably  severe 
one  for  this  country,  several  of  the  cattle  perished  for 
want  of  fodder.  There  are  very  extensive  prairies  in 
the  settlement,  but  so  many  natural  advantages  have 
hitherto  appeared  rather  to  encourage  sloth  than  excite 
industry.  The  great  advantages  to  be  drawn  from  the 
management  of  bees  has  never  induced  any  to  try  them 
here,  though  there  are  wild  bees  in  great  numbers  and 
the  woods  are  full  of  blossoming  shrubs,  wild  flowers 
and  aromatic  herbs.  As  to  the  climate,  it  is  by  far  the 
most  agreeable  I  have  ever  known.  The  in- 

habitants may  thank  the  bountiful  hand  of  providence 
for  melons,  peaches,  plums,  pears,  apples,  mulberries, 
grapes,  besides  several  sorts  of  smaller  fruits.  Several 
of  these  grow  wild  in  the  woods.  Those  which  have  got 
a  place  in  gardens  are  after  being  stuck  in  the  ground 
committed  to  the  care  of  the  climate,  so  are  perpetually 
degenerating.  The  number  of  white  settlers 

is  about  fifteen  hundred.  They  build  on  the  borders  of 
the  strait  and  occupy  about  thirteen  miles  in  length  on 
the  north  and  eight  on  the  south  side.  The  houses  are 
all  of  log  or  frame  work,  shingled.  The  most  have  their 
orchards  adjoining.  The  appearance  of  the  settlement 


302     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  303 

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

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


304     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          305 

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

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


*Campbell.     Political  History  of  Michigan. 

1-20 


306  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          307 

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


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  OLD  FRENCH  HABITANTS  AND  THEIR  WAYS 


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


312     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          313 

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


314     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          315 

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


*Shelden.     Early  History  of  Michigan. 


316     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          317 

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

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

\ 

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


318     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

ers  at  right  angles.  They  are  all  very  narrow  and  not 
being  paved,  dirty  in  the  extreme  whenever  it  happens 
to  rain.  For  the  accommodation  of  passengers,  how- 
ever, there  are  footways  in  most  of  them  formed  of 
square  logs  laid  transversely  close  to  each  other.  About 
two-thirds  of  the  inhabitants  of  Detroit  are  of  French 
extraction  and  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants  both 
above  and  below  the  town  are  of  the  same  description. 
The  former  are  mostly  engaged  in  trade,  and  they  all 
appear  to  be  much  on  an  equality.  The  stores  and  shops 
in  the  town  are  well  furnished  and  you  may  buy  fine 
cloth,  linen,  etc.  and  every  article  of  wearing  apparel  as 
good  in  their  kind,  and  nearly  on  as  reasonable  terms  as 
you  can  purchase  them  in  New. York  or  Philadelphia. 
The  country  round  Detroit  is  uncommonly  flat,  and  in 
none  of  the  rivers  is  there  fall  sufficient  to  turn  even  a 
grist  mill.  The  current  of  Detroit  river  itself  is  stronger 
than  that  of  any  others,  and  a  floating  mill  was  once  in- 
vented by  a  Frenchman  which  was  chained  in  the  middle 
of  the  river  where  it  was  thought  the  stream  would  be 
sufficiently  swift  to  turn  the  water  wheel.  The  building 
of  it  was  attended  with  considerable  expense  to  the  in- 
habitants, but  after  it  was  finished  it  by  no  means  an- 
swered their  expectations.  They  grind  their  corn  at 
present  by  windmills,  which  I  do  not  remember  to  have 
seen  in  any  other  part  of  America.11  His  observations 
respecting  water  mills  were  at  fault.  There  were  sev- 
eral streams  which  afforded  current  sufficient  to  turn  a 
water  wheel.  One  of  these  was  the  Savoyord  which 
flowed  through  what  is  now  the  heart  of  the  city. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  3  19 

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

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


320     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          321 

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

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


1-21 


322  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


CHAPTER  XXI 


MICHIGAN  UNDER  BRITISH  RULE 


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

325 


326     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


*Lanman.     History  of  Michigan. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          327 

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

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


*Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,  Vol.  9. 


328     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  329 

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

The  winter  season  being  on  when  Hamilton  reached 
Vincennes  he  concluded  to  delay  the  capture  of  the  rest 
of  the  country  until  spring  and  in  the  meantime  to  in- 
crease his  forces  to  meet  any  possible  resistance  by  the 
enemy.  But  Clark  did  not  wait.  In  February  he  ap- 
peared before  Vincennes  with  a  considerable  force  and 
at  once  began  an  attack.  The  Americans  were  the  better 
fighters  and  after  the  experience  of  their  marksmanship 
for  but  a  single  day  Hamilton  proposed  a  parley.  The 
result  was  surrender  of  the  post.  Two  days  later  rein- 
forcements from  Detroit,  consisting  of  a  company  of 
forty  men,  with  whom  was  Dejean,  justice  of  the  peace, 
was  captured  as  it  was  approaching.  Most  of  the  com- 
mon soldiers  were  paroled  and  returned  to  Detroit. 
Hamilton,  Major  Hay,  Dejean,  and  Lamothe,  an  of- 
ficer of  the  Indian  department,  were  placed  in  irons  and 
with  the  other  officers  were  taken  as  prisoners  to  Wil- 
liamsburg,  Virginia.  Governor  Jefferson  and  the  Vir- 
ginia legislature  refused  to  sanction  their  exchange,  or 
to  mitigate  the  severity  of  their  punishment,  holding 
them  responsible  for  Indian  atrocities,  especially  in  view 
of  Lieutenant  Governor  Hamilton's  advice  to  his  In- 
dians in  council  to  go  on  the  war  path  and  to  be  sure  to 
bring  in  plenty  of  scalps.  Finally  after  nearly  two  years1 
imprisonment,  on  the  advice  of  General  Washington, 
they  were  allowed  to  go  free.  Hamilton  was  permitted 


330     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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

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


. 


ARENT  SCHUYLER  DE  PEYSTER 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          331 

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

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


332   MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          333 

to  the  island.  He  proceeded  to  build  the  new  fort  and 
to  occupy  it  without  any  authority  from  the  governor. 
When  he  reported  what  had  been  done  Haldimand  ap- 
proved the  removal,  although  the  merchants  and  resi- 
dents at  Michilimackinac  had  sent  in  a  vigorous  protest 
against  it.  He  says :  ;tlt  is,  however,  my  desire  that  the 
post,  although  removed  to  the  island,  may  still  be  called 
Michilimackinac  and  the  fort  be  styled  Fort  Mackinac. 
I  have  never  known  any  advantage  result  from  chang- 
ing the  names  of  places  long  inhabited  by  the  same  peo- 
ple." Sinclair's  jurisdiction  extended  to  Fort  St.  Joseph, 
to  which  he  sent  officers  and  a  small  garrison  to  keep  the 
Pottawatomies  in  check.  He  had  supervision  over  the 
traders  who  frequented  the  Saginaw  bay,  though  it  does 
not  appear  that  there  was  at  that  time  any  settlement  of 
whites  in  that  locality.  In  1780  he  sent  an  expedition 
made  up  largely  of  traders  and  Indians  to  attack  the 
Spanish  settlements  on  the  lower  Mississippi.  When 
they  reached  St.  Louis  a  party  of  volunteers  and  traders 
attacked  the  defenceless  town  and  seven  whites  were 
killed  and  eighteen  were  taken  prisoners  and  sent  to 
work  on  the  new  fort  at  Michilimackinac.  The  affair 
amounted  to  little,  but  it  provoked  retaliation.  In  Jan- 
uary 1781  Don  Francisco  Cruzat,  the  Spanish  military 
commander  of  the  western  posts,  sent  an  expedition 
against  Fort  St.  Joseph.  The  winter  march  of  this  ex- 
pedition four  hundred  miles  across  the  bleak  and  frozen 
prairies  must  have  been  a  toilsome  and  weary  undertak- 
ing. But  they  accomplished  the  trip  and  found  Fort 
St.  Joseph  so  ill  defended  that  its  capture  was  a  matter 


334     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          335 

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

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


CHAPTER  XXII 

INFLUX  OF  SETTLERS 


1-22 


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

339 


340     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  341 

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

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


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


342     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE 


343 


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

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


344     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


*Mich.  Pioneer  Collection,  vol.  10. 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE 


345 


William  Tucker  was  a  Virginian  who  was  captured 
when  eleven  years  old,  his  father  having  been  murdered 
by  the  savages.  He  was  brought  to  Detroit.  After  a 
time  he  escaped  and  returned  to  his  old  home  where  he 
married.  With  his  young  wife  he  came  back  to  Detroit 
and  in  1784  they  settled  upon  the  Clinton  river  about  six 
miles  from  its  mouth.  His  land  was  bought  directly 
from  the  Indian  chief.  Others  who  came  under  some- 
what similar  circumstances  and  settled  in  the  same  vicin- 
ity were  John  Lovelace,  Joseph  Spencer,  Joseph  Hayes. 
Thus  although  the  Moravians  had  departed,  their 
places  were  speedily  filled  and  a  settlement  of  promising 
dimensions  sprang  up.  John  Brooks  built  a  distillery 
and  this  was  an  incentive  to  the  farmers  to  raise  rye.  In 
1 800  Christian  Clemens,  after  whom  the  town  was 
named,  came  from  Germantown,  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
possessed  of  considerable  means,  built  a  good  dwelling, 
operated  a  tannery  and  was  always  ready  to  lend  a  hand 
to  every  worthy  enterprise.  Elisha  Harrington  married 
the  daughter  of  Connor  and  became  a  prosperous  fann- 
er. John  Stockton  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Clemens 
and  built  the  first  frame  house  in  the  place.  Detroit  was 
the  accessible  point  and  the  market  for  whatever  the 
farmers  might  raise.  This  attempt  at  an  interior  settle- 
ment was  clearly  a  success.  It  was  the  leader  of  other 
advances  in  the  wilderness.  Those  who  had  ventured 
found  their  prospects  satisfactory.  Their  friends  were 
induced  to  follow  and  so,  the  impetus  having  been  given, 
the  pioneers  became  more  and  mare  numerous. 

Naturally  the  points  first  reached  were  those  accessi- 


346     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE 


347 


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


348     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

The  commandants  at  Michilimackinac,  at  one  time  or 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE  349 

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

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


35O     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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


CHAPTER  XXIII 

CLOSE   OF  THE    REVOLUTION  AND  SURRENDER  OF 
MICHIGAN  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES 


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

Nevertheless,  the  British  forces  showed  no  inclination 
i-23  353 


354     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE 


355 


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

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


356     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          357 

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


same.' 


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


358  MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

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

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


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE          359 

region  likely  to  be  considered  worth  anything  for  the 
next  hundred  years. 

To  encourage  the  Indians  in  self-defence  and  inci- 
dentally as  a  protection  to  Detroit,  Simcoe  built  a  fort 
at  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee  and  garrisoned  it  with  Brit- 
ish soldiers.  He  was  evidently  persuaded,  even  so  late 
as  1794,  as  was  apparently  Governor  Carleton  also,  that 
the  prospects  were  favorable  for  Great  Britain  to  con- 
tinue holding  the  country.  But  in  that  very  year  their 
hopes  must  have  been  blasted,  for  Jay's  treaty  made  in 
September,  1794,  stipulated  that  all  the  western  posts 
within  the  territory  belonging  to  theUnited  States  should 
be  surrendered  by  June  i,  1796.  In  spite  of  this, however, 
they  still  sought  to  postpone  the  inevitable  through  In- 
dian hostility  which  they  lent  their  efforts  to  promote. 
While  there  were  some  disaffected  savages  ready  to  take 
up  arms  in  behalf  of  British  interests,  the  councils  were 
divided.  Nevertheless  there  were  troubles  of  a  suffi- 
ciently serious  character  to  call  for  the  energetic  efforts 
of  General  Anthony  Wayne  and  a  considerable  army. 
Several  bloody  engagements  took  place,  in  which  militia 
and  volunteers  from  Detroit  participated,  one  of  them 
almost  under  the  gates  of  the  British  fort  on  the  Mau- 
mee. When  the  news  of  Jay's  treaty  came  some  of  the 
natives  were  shrewd  enough  to  see  that  with  a  definite 
date  set  for  the  surrender  of  the  country  there  was  small 
prospect  of  annulling  a  solemn  treaty  made  and  con- 
firmed by  the  governments  of  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain,  and  they  were  ready  to  agree  to  a  perma- 


. 


360     MICHIGAN  AS  PROVINCE,  TERRITORY,  STATE 

nent  peace.    Then  followed  the  treaty  of  Greenville  and 
the  end  of  hostilities. 

The  ratifications  of  Jay's    treaty    having    been    ex- 
changed,   a    messenger     was    at    once    despatched    to 
Lord      Dorchester      at      Quebec    with     a      demand 
that    its    provisions    be    carried    into    effect.       This 
time    there    was    no    hesitancy    in    acceding    to    the 
demand.    The    necessary  orders    for    the    evacuation 
of  the  western  posts  were  issued,  and  upon  the  return  to 
Philadelphia  of  the  messenger  they  were  at  once  put  in- 
to the  hands  of  General  Wayne.    They  were  duly  for- 
warded by   him  to   Lieutenant- Colonel    John    Francis 
Hamtramck  at  Fort  Miami  to  be  carried  into  effect.  He 
despatched  Captain  Moses  Porter  with  sixty-five  men 
fully  armed  and  equipped  to  take  possession  of  Detroit. 
The  detachment  arrived  on  the  nth  of  July,  1796,  and 
on  that  day  Colonel  Richard  England,  then  in  command 
of  the  garrison,  lowered  the  British  colors  from  the  flag- 
staff of  Fort  Lernoult,  and  Captain  Porter  ran  up  the 
stars  and  stripes.     Thus,  after  long  and  vexatious  de- 
lays, the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  was  estab- 
lished over  Michigan.     Colonel  Hamtramck  with  his 
entire  command  arrived  at  Detroit  two  days  later  and 
assumed  military  authority  over  the  post  and  the  town. 
General  Wayne  himself  came  in  a  few  weeks  with  the 
powers  of  a  civil  commissioner  as  well  as  those  of  a 
military  commander,    and    remained    throughout    the 
summer,  busied  in  setting  into  operation  the  governmen- 
tal machinery.    A  small  detachment  was  sent  to  Michi- 
limackinac  and  in  August  of  the  same  year  the  British 


MICHIGAN  AS  A  PROVINCE 


flag  gave  place  to  that  of  the  United  States  over  that 
fortification.  So,  for  the  first  time  it  can  be  said  that 
Michigan  had  ceased  to  be  a  British  province  and  had 
attained  the  dignity  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO  LIBRARY 


Utley,  Henry  Munson 
566        ichigan  as  a  province, 
U9      territory  and  state 
v.l