HISTORY       OF MICHIGAN,
FROM ITS EARLIEST COLONIZATION TO TUB
PRESENT TIME.
BY JAMES H. LANMAN
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
329 & 331 PEARL STREET,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1852.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, 1
HARPER & BROTHERS,
in the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of NewYork




PREFACE.
THE design of this volume is to present to the
reader, in a brief and popular form, a view of
the principal events connected with the history,
progress, and present condition of Michigan,
condensed from the larger work prepared by the
author under the sanction of a law of that State.
Such a work, embracing a great variety of particulars relating to the early settlement and subsequent growth of the West, would, it was
thought, be both useful and interesting. The
rapid advance of the vast territory bordering on
the lakes in population and wealth, is the best
commentary on the nature and effects of our free
institutions, and offers a political phenomenon
well worthy of being studied.
For my facts I have relied principally upon
Father Marquette, Hennepin, Joutel, La Hontan, Charlevoix, Rogers, Henry, Carver, M'Kenzie, Bouchette, and M'Gregor, and have consllted with particular care Mr. Bancroft's great




X               PREFACE.
work, the " History of the Colonization of the
United States." The discourses, also, which have
from time to time been delivered before the
Michigan Historical Society, by Cass, Schoolcraft, Whiting, and Biddle, I found full of valuable information.  Nor must I omit to acknowledge:he great obligations I am under to
my friend Mr. Schoolcraft, for his kindness in
permitting me to consult his library, which is
especially rich in everything relating to the
West, as freely as if it had been my own. Besides these means of information, a residence in
the interior of the state for a considerable period
has afforded me a knowledge of its actual condition, which could not, perhaps, have been obtained in any other way.
If in this work, prepared during the intervals
of professional labour, I shall have succeeded in
presenting an impartial history of this interesting
State, and in a manner to entertain and instruct
the intelligent reader, my object will have been
fully accomplished.
J. H. L.
New-York, August 18th, 1841.




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
General Description of the State.-Soil. —Minerals.-Streams
-Interior Lakes.-The Great Lakes.-Origin of their Names.
-Wild Animals.-Birds.-Fish.-Coutlties.   Page 15
CHAPTER II.
First Advance of the Missionaries to the Lakes.-BrebceufDaniel- Pijart -Charles Raymbault.-First bark Canoe of
white Men reaches St. Mary.-Father Jaques-BressaniChaumonotot- Claude Dablon-Mesnard-Lallemand —Ga
brieile Dreuillette, and Leonard Gareau.-Rene Mesnard advances to Che-goi-me-gon.-Father Claude Allouez.-Father
James Marquette.-Indian Council held at the Falls of St.
Mary.-Marquette's Explorations.-His Death.-Robert de la
Salle -His Explorations.- Michilimackinac founded.-Death
of La Salle.-Sault de Ste. Marie.-Fort St. Joseph.-Detroit
founded.-Its early Condition.-Attacked by the Ottawas.By the Foxes.-Early French Travellers through the Lakes
32
CH-APTER III.
dolonial Emigrants.-Merchants.-Coureurs des Bois.-The
Peasantry. —French Soldiers.-Legal Administration.-Policy of the French Government.-Indian Mythology of the
Lakes.-Mode of Land Distribution.-Increase of Colonization.-The Fur-trade of the Lakes.-Canadian Boat-songs.
-La Hontan's Account of the Fur-trade.. 78




Xil                    CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
Struggle between France and England for the Possession ol
the Country.-The Iroquois and Algonquins.-British Troops
advance into Canada.-Battle of Quebec.-Death of Wolfe
and Montcalm.-British Detachment under Rogers takes
Possession of Michigan.-Rogers traverses Lake Erie.-Pontiac makes his first Appearance.-Bellestre.-Surrender of
Detroit.... Page 96
CHAPTER V.
Condition of the Territory under the English-Pontiac forms a
Confederacy to attack the English Posts.-War breaks out.
-Siege of Detroit.-Battle of Bloody Bridge.-Indians assemble around Michilimackinac.-Minavavana- Alexander
Henry -Wawatam.-Michilimackinac destroyed.- General
Bradstreet arrives.-Peace concluded.-Death of Pontiac 118
CHAPTER VI.
Condition of the Fur-trade under the English.-Hudson's Bay
Company.-English Administration of the Law.-Crinmnal
Trial.-Quebec Act.-Mineral Rock on Lake Superior.Northwest Company.-American Revolution.-Expeditions
fron Detroit.-Indian Council held at Detroit.-American
Independence established.....145
CHAPTER VII.
Northwestern Territory organized.-Arthur St. Clair appointed
Governor.-English refuse to surrender the Posts.-Indian
Disaffection.-Indian Council at Detroit.-Message from the
Spanish Settlements on the Banks of the Mississippi.-Campaign of General Harmar.-Campaign of General St. Clair.Campaign of General Wayne.-Extension of French Settlements.-Michigan surrendered to the United States.-Condition of the Territory in connexion with the Fur-trade.-Currency employed in the Fur-trade. 163




CONTENTS.                     Xiii
CHAPTER VIII.
Condition of Michigan after the Surrender of the Posts.-Its
Erection into a Territory.-General Hull appointed Governor.
-Detroit destroyed by Fire.-Administration of the Law.Third Indian Confederacy under Tecumseh and the Prophet.
-Le Marquoit.-Land-office established.-Walk-in-the-Water.-Population in 1811.-Memorial from Michigan praying
Aid from the General Government.-Savage Outbreak.-Operations on the Wabash.-American Fur Company Page 181
CHAPTER IX.
War declared between Great Britain and the United States.Representations of Governor Hull.-Appointed to Command
the Western Army.- Crosses to Sandwich and Addresses
the Canadians.-Policy of Prevost.-Surrender of Detroit.Tecumseh.-Conduct of Hull.-Expedition to the River Raisin.-Capture of Chicago. - Battle of the River Raisin.General Harrison's Campaign. - Commodore Perry. - His
Victory on Lake Erie.-General Harrison arrives at Malden.
-Marches to Detroit.-Battle of the Thames.- Death of
Tecumseh.-His Character.-Attack on Mackinaw.-Peace
Concluded.....197
CHAPTER X.
Lewis Cass appointed Governor of the Territory.-Its Condition
at that Time.-Public Lands brought into Market.-First
Steamboat on the Lakes.-University Founded.-Expedition
to Explore the Lakes.-The Clinton Canal.-Mr. Porter ap.
pointed Governor.-Mode of making Surveys.-Controversy
with Ohio.-Mr. Mason elected Governor.-State Organized.
-Internal Improvements.-Education.-Conclusion. 228




Xiv             CONTENTS.
AP PENDI X.
First Colonization of Canada.. Page 249
Massacre of the Jesuits...        252
Early Grant at Detroit...253
Early Land Trespass....257
Treaty of Greenville....258
General Hull's Proclamation.        267




HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
CHAPTER I.
General Description of the State.-Soil.-Minerals.-Streams.
-Interior Lakes.-The Great Lakes.-Origin of their Names.
-Wild Animals.-Birds.-Fish.-Counties.
THE State of Michigan derives its name, it is
said, from  the Indian words Mitchi-sawgyegan,
which mean, in English, a great lake, a term which
has been given to the territory from the position
it occupies. It is bounded on the north by Lake
Superior, on the south by Ohio and Indiana, on the
east by Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Huron, and on the west by Lake Michigan, all of
which lakes pour their accumulated waters down
the Falls of Niagara. The extent of its domain
is believed to be about sixty-five thousand square
miles.
Along the shores of Lake Erie there stretches a
belt of level and heavily.timbered land, bearing a
growth of large and noble forest-trees upon a low
and level soil. The land gradually rises towards
B




16         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
the centre of the state, presenting a variegated
scenery composed of tracts of dense wilderness,
alternated with prairies, natural parks, or oak
openings, copses of burr-oak, marshes, barrens,
and pine groves, each watered by small streams,
lakes, or springs. That part of the state which
borders Lake Superior is more bold and primitive,
and is broken by mountains and plains, hills and
valleys. The Porcupine Mountains, which are the
dividing ridge, and separate the waters of Lake
Superior and Lake Michigan, are estimated at their
most elevated point to be nearly two thousand feet
high. Many parts exhibit a bold, rocky, and steril
prospect, which caused one of the early French
travellers, La Hontan, to call this region " the fagend of the world."  It abounds with forests of
white and yellow pine, and will probably never be
favourable for agricultural production, although it
is a rich mineral region. The northwestern portion of the state is impressed with still more sublime features of natural scenery, comprising masses of stupendous rocks and rugged mountain
chains; the northern part of the lower peninsula
is flat, containing many swamps; the central portion is gently rolling, covered with groves of oak,
alternated with tracts of heavily-timbered land, is
peculiarly favourable for the production of wheat,
which is its staple product, and presents the most




SOIL.                 17
picturesque points of scenery, and resources for
the most dense population.
The soil of Michigan is various in its character.
It is in general much more level than that of New.
York and New-England, being of alluvial forma.
tion, and comparatively free from rocks. The different species of soil consist of heavily-timbered
land, oak openings, burr-oak plains, prairies, and
pine groves, each of which will be considered.
The heavily-timbered land consists of tracts
which are densely wooded with a variety of large
forest-trees, the principal of which are the black
and white walnut, oaks of different species, maple,
ash, elm, linden, sycamore, hackberry, cottonwood,
aspen, locust, butternut, box or dogwood, poplar,
whitewood, beech, cherry, sassafras, white, yellow,
and Norway pine, hemlock, spruce, tamerack, cedar, cypress, chestnut, and pawpaw; as well as the
smaller trees and shrubs, such as willow, alder,
sumach, and honeysuckle, together with the different kinds of undergrowth which are found in
the Middle and Southern States. This timbered
land is often found upon the borders of the streams,
upon what are called bottoms, and also upon the
ridges which border them. It is discovered along
the shores of the lakes from Monroe to Detroit,
and thence to Lake Michigan, in a belt varying
from five to fifteen miles in breadth. But a small




18         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
proportion of the peninsular part of the state ist
however, densely wooded.
There are various other species of soil which
constitute a beautiful variety, and which will be
described in their proper order. The soil which
is heavily timbered is generally composed of a
deep vegetable mould, sometimes mingled with
clay, and produces a dense and luxuriant vegeta.
tion. Compared with the other sections of the
state, it is gloomy, being generally more low and
level, and it is more difficult to clear from the
thick and tangled mass of trees which covers it;
but these disadvantages are made up by its fertility,
and it yields in great abundance the grasses, oats,
buckwheat, potatoes, rye, and large crops of corn.
Perhaps it is not so favourable to wheat, being
damp, from the fact that it is shut out from the
sun, and also cold in its nature.
In advancing into the interior of the state, across
the narrow belt before described, we arrive upon
a more dry and undulating soil -a species of
land which swells into little hills like artificial
mounds, and is called oak openings. This land
is composed of a sandy loam, mingled sometimes
with limestone pebbles, and appears light upon the
surface, but, when laid open by the plough, turns
black from the intermixture of lime in its com.
position. The trees, consisting chiefly of white.




SOIL.                 19
oak, scattered over the ground generally from
ten to sixty feet apart, and extending for miles
like cultivated parks, now sweeping down to a
clear stream, a fertile prairie, or the brow of a
transparent lake, impress one with the idea that he
is travelling through an old, rather than a newlysettled country. These openings constitute a fea.
ture which distinguishes this from most of the ad.
joining states. The land, although not as productive as some other kinds of soil, yields heavy crops
of oats and abundant harvests of wheat, besides the
ordinary products of the Middle States. Although
containing apparently but a thin covering of decom.
posed vegetable matter, the absence of that material is made up by the admixture of lime in its composition, which is favourable to vegetation; and in
summer the surface is almost entirely covered with
red, yellow, white, and purple flowers, which, in their
richness and beauty, are not known in the oldersettled portions of the country, spreading a gorgeous
carpet through the forest as far as the eye can
reach. The surface of the oak openings also presents a turf of matted grass, which requires three
or four yoke of oxen to break it up; and, as you
can ride for miles in a carriage under the trees
that are thus widely separated, it does not need so
great an amount of labour in clearing it as the
timbered land. The trees, however, are usually




20         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
girdled in order to effect their decay. These oak
openings extend throughout the greater part of the
lower peninsula.
Another species of soil of very great value is
found in the state, commencing at the county of
Jackson and studding the timbered land and oak
openings from the head of the Kalamazoo River to
the shores of Lake Michigan. It is called burr-oak
plains or openings; a soil which consists of tracts
spread over with groves of trees of a small size,
called the burr.oak, with a rough bark and deep
green foliage. They closely resemble cultivated
orchards of pear.trees, springing fiom a soil which
is composed of a brown loam mingled with clay;
yet they are highly productive, and are deemed by
the settlers of the greatest value, yielding in abundance the crops of the Middle States, corn, oats, potatoes, buckwheat, rye, and all the products of the
other kinds of soil. As the trees, like those of the
white-oak openings, are widely separated, this land
requires but little clearing; but four or five yoke
of oxen are generally used to break it up for seed.
ing. Corn to the amount of forty, and sometimes
eighty bushels to the acre, is produced from these
openings, and from forty to fifty bushels of oats.
Thirty bushels of wheat to the acre are also frequently obtained from this land; but the average
amount may be placed at about twenty-five bushels,




SOIL.                 21
Scattered through the south and southwestern
part, particularly upon the borders of the Kalamazoo, the Grand, and St. Joseph Rivers, are what
are called prairies. These consist of a soil desti.
tute of trees, and covered with a deep surface of
black sand and vegetable mould. It is more productive than any other species, yielding very large
crops of corn and potatoes, as well as wheat, which
is, however, apt not to be as clean as that on the
openings. All other crops that are produced in this
climate it yields in great profusion. These prai.
ries throughout the state are comparatively small,
but in Illinois they stretch out beyond the horizon
like a sea. Being comparatively easy to cultivate,
and producing so abundantly, they are always selected by the farmers before any other kind of
soil. The dry prairies on the banks of the Kalamazoo and St. Joseph Rivers furnish a soil equal
to any other in the West, and frequently from
thirty to fifty bushels of corn have been raised
upon them the first season, without being ploughed
or hoed; and when the mould has been once sub.
dued, from thirty to eighty bushels of corn, or forty
of wheat, have been obtained to the acre; they
are also very favourable for grass.
Another species of soil found in the state is
called wet prairies or marshes, tracts which are
generally in part or in whole covered with water;




22          HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
and they produce a long and coarse grass that is
very favourable for winter stock, and make a fine
ranging ground for horses and cattle in the spring.
When drained, these wet prairies may be converted
into valuable meadow land.
Another species of soil that we meet with in the
interior is termed barrens.  They consist of tracts
which are sparsely scattered over with stunted oaks
or bushes, that would seem to indicate that the
land is not favourable to vegetation. It is found,
however, that by cultivation it produces well.
The kind of soil which is called swamp or marsh
land is found in considerable tracts in the greater
part of the state. It is in winter covered with wa.
ter, and has a deep mire, which is dangerous to
the traveller, and is sprinkled here and there with
a few scattering trees or groves of tamerack, which
resemble pine. In many cases these marshes are
caused by beaver-dams.
The mineral productions of the state are va.
rious, and some of considerable value. Although
the soil of the lower peninsula is, as has been before
remarked, of alluvial formation, yet there are occasionally seen ledges of sandstone, which abounds
in parts of the counties of Hillsdale, Jackson, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, Livingston, Ingham, Eaton, Barry, Shiawassee, Clinton, and other portions of the
state. Gray limestone is also found; and on the




MINERALS.               23
immediate shore of Lake Huron a greenish-coloured clay slate has been discovered.  Indications of
coal are apparent in the counties of Eaton, Ingham,
and Shiawassee. On the banks of the Grand River,
near the Grand Rapids, beds of gypsum or plaster
occur, which will be of considerable importance.
Salt.springs, which can be used for the manufacture of salt, are scattered throughout a considerable portion of the interior; and clay, sand, marl, bog
iron ore, with other kinds, and springs tinctured with
mineral qualities, especially sulphur, have been discovered in the eastern part of the peninsula, that
may be of advantage for medicinal purposes.
Along the shores of Lake Superior, which are
rich in mineral wealth, there are evidences of pure
copper, and a large mass of that metal, near the
mouth of the Ontonagon River, of many thousand
pounds' weight, has excited the interest of travellers
from the earliest period. Among the rocks on this
part of the coast are also scattered prase, jaspar,
carnelian, agate, sardonyx, and other rare stones
of some value.
The greater part of the state is also well water.
ed by numerous rivers and small streams, which
variegate the landscape, and flow into the surrounding lakes. The principal of these are the Raisin,
Grand River, the Kalamazoo, the St. Joseph, the
Huron, the Clinton, the Saginaw, and the Ontona.




24          STATE OF MICHIGAN.
gon. The Detroit, the St. Clair, and the St. Mary's cannot be properly called rivers, as they are
only straits which connect the lakes in the eastern and more level portions. Upon the eastern
border of the state the rivers are sluggish, but, as
you advance into the interior, they become more
clear and rapid. The St. Joseph is a transparent
and beautiful, though shallow stream, which meanders through the western part of the state over
a bed of limestone rock and pebbles, and, watering counties of great fertility, consisting of oak
lands and prairies, flows into Lake Michigan.
The Kalamazoo is also a clear but narrow river,
that runs over a surface of sand, limestone rock, or
pebbles, and, watering extensive and productive
tracts of the state, empties into the same lake.
The Grand River is the largest stream in the interior, and, after furnishing a convenient channel
for navigation and large manufacturing advantages, empties into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven.
There are various other streams of less importance, which furnish sites for manufacturing establishments, and eligible points for settlement on
their banks.
Another peculiar point in the scenery is the little lakes which are scattered over the soil. These
are clear, and abound with fish; and in summer,
when the vegetation upon their banks is in full




RIVERS AND LAKES.             25
bloom, appear like mirrors, where Nature, dressed
in green and flowery robes, may admire her own
beauty amid the solitude.
But the most prominent feature of the state is
the great lakes which wash its shores.  These
constitute much the largest body of fresh water on
the face of the globe. To the eye they appear like
oceans, and water the borders of the forest for
thousands of miles, from the state of New-York to
the regions of Canada lying along the shores of
Lake Superior, which are now ranged only by
tribes of Indians and fur traders. Their surges
roll like those of the sea, and the mariner obliged
to navigate them often encounters as dangerous
storms as upon the ocean. Their waters, how.
ever, are not, like those of the open sea, of a blue
colour, but have a tinge of green, fiom the fact
that they are fresh. They were formerly explo.
red only by the bark canoes of the Indians, and
were the theatre of the fur trade, which will be
described hereafter; but, with the exception of
Lake Superior, they are now crossed by steamboats
of large tonnage, as well as vessels and ships of all
sizes.
The origin of the names of the great lakes is
not wanting in interest. Lake Ontario was formerly called Lake Frontenac, while that of Erie
Es derived from a nation of Erries, who roamed




26         STATE OF MICHIGAN.
along the northern borders of Ohio, and were de.
stroyed by the Iroquois. Lake Huron was termed
Karegnondi, and also Lake of Orleans. Lake
Michigan was called Lake Michigonong, and also
Lake of Puans and Illinese, and Lake of the Dauphin. Lake St. Clair was named by La Salle's
expedition, from the day on which he entered the
river. The length of Lake Superior is estimated
at five hundred miles, and its breadth at one hundred and ninety. This lake is as clear as crystal,
and the polished stones upon the bottom, as well as
numerous shoals of fish, can be seen at a great
depth.  Lake Michigan is believed to be three
hundred and thirty miles long, and sixty miles
broad.  Lake Huron is two hundred and sixty
miles long, and, coastwise, three hundred and sixty; its breadth is one hundred and sixty miles.
Lake Erie is two hundred and eighty miles long,
and its widest part is about sixty.three miles.
Lake St. Clair is thirty miles long and twenty.
eight miles broad. It is thus seen that this chain
of lakes must furnish an important channel of navigation in the future commerce of the country.
The wild animals of this as well as the other
portions of the Northwest are various. The mammoth or mastodon once roamed through its forests,
and its skeletons are now found below the surface.
Herds of buffaloes roved over the prairies upon the




ANIMALS.               27
borders of Lake Erie as late as 1720, and we have
a full account of that fact from the early French travellers; but these have been driven, by the progress
of emigration, to the plains which sweep along the
base of the Rocky Mountains. The elk and moose
and troops of deer formerly fed on the green herbage upon the banks of the Detroit; but these have
now retired to the more unsettled portions of the
state. The wolverine, the black or brown bear,
the wolf, the elk, the deer, moose, lynx, wild-cat,
panther, fox, marten, raccoon, porcupine, opossum,
weasel, polecat, gopher, the black, red, gray, and
striped squirrel, marmot or woodchuck, rabbit,
hare, and various other species of animals, are now
found in the interior. The beaver, the otter, the
muskrat, and the mink inhabit the rivers and small
streams, and furnished a valuable article of commerce during the early French, English, and Amer.
ican fur trade. Of birds, the robin, the black.
bird, the thrush, the lark, the bluebird, different
species of the sparrow, the wren, the woodpecker,
the brant, and the loon, the jay, and the cuckoo,
are the most common. The forests shelter flocks
of the wild turkey and the partridge. The grouse
or prairie.hen swarms in the prairies. Pigeons
appear in large flocks at particular seasons of the
year, and the snipe and the white partridge are
not uncommon. The eagle, the brant, the buzzard,




28         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
and others of the vulture kind, the crow, the raven,
the heron, and owls of different species, the most
distinguished of which is the great white owl, are
among its carnivorous birds. The streams and
lakes abound with numerous species of wild ducks,
of various and beautiful plumage.  They fly in
large flocks along the shores of the lakes, and feed
in the marshes which fringe them, sometimes blackening the surface by their numbers. The swan
may sometimes be seen floating upon the waters;
and flocks of wild geese, in the season of summer,
collect around the small interior lakes after their
winter migrations, where they obtain their food
from the wild rice, which is the peculiar product
of this region.
The rivers, interior lakes, and surrounding waters of the country abound with fish. These are
of various species and of delicious kinds. In the
strait of St. Mary and Lake Superior they are of a
more valuable sort, from the fact that the water of
the latter lake is clear and very cold. The quantity in the last-named lake is very great. The
sisquoelle ard muckaw, which are not found in
other portions of the lake waters, are seen in great
abundance in Lake Superior.  They sometimes
grow to the weight of eight or ten pounds.
The principal fish which are found in the surrounding lakes and interior waters of the country




FISH.                 29
are the sturgeon, whitefish, Mackinaw trout, sal.
mon trout, muskalunjeh, pickerel, pike, perch, herring, the rock bass, the white and black bass, catfish,
pout, lamprey eel, bullhead, roach, sunfish, dace,
sucker, carp, mullet, billfish, swordfish, bullfish,
stone-carrier, sheep's-head, the gar, and many other kinds. The muskalunjeh, Mackinaw trout, and
whitefish are deemed most valuable. The former
is sometimes caught weighing forty pounds. The
Mackinaw trout resembles in lustre and appearance the salmon. The whitefish, a very delicious
fish, is similar to the shad, with brighter scales,
which appear like burnished silver. This fish has
been celebrated by the French travellers from the
earliest period, and Charlevoix, who travelled
through this region in 1720, once declared that
" nothing of the fish kind could excel it." Great
numbers of trout and whitefish are taken upon the
lakes and shipped to Ohio, New-York, and Pennsylvania, besides those which are consumed in the
state.
The nortnern part of the lower peninsula of Mich.
igan, bordering on Lake Huron, has not yet been
thoroughly surveyed and brought into market. The
soil of this section of the state is not so favourable
for agriculture as that of the southern portion. It
is more wet and marshy, abounds with pine, and is
broken by sandhills and swamps. It has been re



30         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
marked that the portion of the state bordering on
Lake Superior is broken and rocky; and, although
containing some elevated table-lands which may be
adapted to cultivation, it may be considered unfa.
vourable to agriculture. It has, however, been ascertained to be a rich mineral region. The most
settled portion of the state has been organized into
counties, as the advance of population has required.
From the brief view which has been taken of
the productions of the soil, it is clearly perceived
that it affords a variety of resources. The low and
densely-wooded land upon the immediate shore of
the lower lakes, where the streams run sluggishly
over beds of clay, is strikingly contrasted with the
more rolling character of the oak lands, extending
from this belt towards the centre, dotted as they
are by natural ponds of pure water, and coursed
by more rapid streams, which have their beds upon
sand or gravel; and these in turn are entirely dis.
tinct from the more primitive, rocky, and rugged
portion lying in that part of the upper peninsula bor.
dering on the shores of Lake Superior. Exhibit.
ing different degrees of fertility, the southern part,
from its undulating character and its clear streams,
affords a greater inducement for present settlement than the level strip to which allusion has
been made, or the more primitive and rocky region
of the north. It happens, accordingly, that emiL




PRODUCTIONS.              31
gration has in a great measure crossed this strip
and sought the more rolling country, leaving the
marshes and the mouths of the streams which flow
into the eastern side; a section of the territory
which is not only at present unfavourable to settlement from the configuration of the land, but
from the fact that it is productive of the class of
bilious disorders that prevails in the greater portion of our new country.
C




32           HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
CHAPTER II.
First Advance of the Missionaries to the Lakes.-Breb(eufDaniel. —Pijart-Charles Raymbault.-First bark Canoe of
white Men reaches St. Mary.-Father Jaques-BressaiiChaumonotot- Claude Dablon-Mesnard-Lallemand —Gabrielle Dreuillette, and Leonard Gareau.-Rene Mesnard advances to Che-goi-me-gon.-Father Claude Allouez.-Father
James Marquette.-Indian Council held at the Falls of St.
Mary.-Marquette's Explorations.-His Death.-Robert de la
Salle.-His Explorations.-Michilimackinac founded.-Death
of La Salle.-Sault de Ste. Marie.-Fort St. Joseph.-Detroit
founded.-Its early Condition.-Attacked by the Ottawas.By the Foxes.-Early French Travellers through the Lakes.
THE wide region stretching away in a luxuriant
expanse of forest, river, and prairie, from the shores
of the great lakes westward to the banks of the
Mississippi, was first explored and colonized by the
French. That portion of the French territory
now comprised in the Canadas, the original point
of French settlement, was long the centre of its
trade, commerce, and religion; yet the government
claimed the country, both by right of discovery and
appropriation, that extended far beyond the boundaries of their actual colonization. Nor were the
settlers who had established themselves upon the
banks of the St. Lawrence at any time wanting in
zeal and entcrnrise in extending their explorations.




EXPLORATIONS OF THE JESUITS.       33
It was early the avowed object of that government
to carry the cross of the Catholic Church to the
remotest bounds of the Western territory, and thus
to secure the advantages of its great resources.
The principal directors of the ecclesiastical establishments that were collected at Quebec, found it
their policy to become informed of the condition of
the domain upon the great lakes; and as early as
1634, the Jesuits Brebeuf and Daniel joined a party of Hurons who were returning from that wall.
ed city, and, passing through the Ottawa River,
raised the first hut of the Society of Jesus upon the
shore of Lake Iroquois, a bay of Lake Huron,
where they daily rang a bell to call the savages
to prayer, and performed all those kind offices
which were calculated to secure the confidence and
affection of the tribes on the lake shores. In order
to confirm the missions, a college was founded in
Quebec during the following year; and a hospital
was established at the same place for the unfortu.
nate of every class, both civilized and savage.
Three nuns of Dieppe, in France, were selected to
advance into the Canadian wilderness in 1639; an
Ursuline convent, for the education of girls, was
also erected; and at Silleri a small band of the
Hurons was trained to the civilization and faith
of the French, for the purpose of spreading the
religion and influence of their colonies through




34         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
the Western wilderness.*  A plan for the estabo
lishment of missions, not only among the Algonquins of the North, but also south of Lake Huron
and in Michigan, was formed, indeed, within six
years after the discovery of Canada.
The French were at this period excluded from
the navigation of Lake Ontario by the hostility of
the Mohawks, and their canoes had never ruffled
the waters of Lake Erie. The Ottawa, in consequence, was the only avenue to the West; and in
1641 Pijart and Charles Raymbault were found
roaming as missionaries among the tribes of Lake
Nipissing.
In September, 1641, the firil bark canoe, laden
with French Jesuits, was paddfsAd through the Ottawa River for the Falls of St. Mary, and, passing
by the islands of Lake Huron, they reached these
falls after a navigation of seventeen days.  At
this place they found a large collection of Indians
from the neighbouring tribes, many of whom had
never seen civilized men, and had never heard of
the true God. The white men were invited to
dwell among them; for, said the savages, "We
will embrace you as brothers; we will derive profit
from your words." Raymbault, the first missionary to the tribes of Michigan, feeble with consumption, during the next year returned to Quebec
* Bancroft.




EXPLORATIONS OF THE JESUITS.      35
Thus the French at this early period had advanced
their missionary posts beyond the shores of Lake
Huron and to the outlet of Lake Superior. Father
Jaques and Bressani, Jean de Brebceuf, Chaumonotot, Claude Dablon, Mesnard, and others, while
carrying the cross through the forests of the Northwest, were not to be impeded by tortures and burnings, nor death even, from their darling projects.
They toiled and suffered, were struck down with the
tomahawk; they lived the life of beggars, and died
the death of martyrs; were covered with burning
bark, and scalded with boiling water, and scarred
wrt'rhio6t iron, until the gentle Lallemand cried
out amid his tortures, " We are made a spectacle
unto the world, and to angels, and to men:" but
with the zeal of ancient martyrdom the Jesuits
pressed on from the strongholds of Quebec, filling
the ranks of the dead as one after another fell, advancing to the remote boundaries of the lake shores
the cross and the lilies of the Bourbons.
During the month of August, 1654, two young
fur-traders having joined a band of the Ottawas or
Algonquins, in their bark canoes, upon an exploration of five hundred leagues, reappeared after two
years before St. Louis with a fleet of fifty canoes.
Describing the territory stretching aZ'und the great
lakes in glowing colours, and the savage hordes
which were then scattered through the forests, they




36         HISTORY OF MICHIGANI
sought to effect a wider extension of French con:i
merce into that region. Their request was granted; and in 1656, Gabrielle Dreuillette and Leonard
Gareau, former missionaries among the Hurons,
were selected for the mission; but just below Montreal a band of Mohawks attacked their fleet, Garean  was mortally wounded, and the expedition
prevented. The traders of the lakes, seeking the
furs which abounded in those forests, and backed
by the Western Indians, who desired a league by
which they might resist the Iroquois, soon advanced to Green Bay, and in 1659 two of them passed
the winter on the shores of Lake Superior. During the following year they returned to Quebec,
escorted by sixty canoes, laden with peltry, and
paddled by three hundred Algonquins.
The zeal of Francis de Laval, the bishop of
Quebec, appears to have been kindled, by their ac.
counts of the country, with a desire to enter upon
the mission, but to Rene Mesnard was allotted
this task, so full of hazard. Charged with the duty
of exploring the territory around Green Bay and
Lake Superior, and of establishing at some convenient point a place for the general assembly of
the neighbouring tribes, this aged man, in August, 1660, with but few preparations, departed on
his mission, trusting, to use his own words, "in
the Provirde'ce which feeds the little birds of the




EXPLORATIONS OF THE JESUITS.      37
desert, and clothes the wild flowers of the forest."
During the month of October he reached a bay on
the south shore of Lake Superior, which he named
St. Theresa; writing to a friend, "in three or four
months you may add me to the memento of deaths."
After a residence there of eight months, in the year
1661, he complied with the invitation of the Hu.
rons, who had taken refuge in the isle of St. Mi
chael, and, leaving his converts, advanced with one
attendant to the Bay of Che-goi-me-gon. Lost in
the forest, he was never afterward seen; and
among the amulets of the Sioux were discovered
his breviary and cassock.*
But the rude missionary posts around the lakes
struggled on, and were in danger of falling, when
the Canadian colonies were re-enforced in 1665 by
a royal regiment,with Tracy as viceroy, Courcelles,
a veteran officer, as governor, and Talon, a man
of business and perseverance, as intendant, and
the representative of the king in civil matters.
French enterprise now pressed forward to the
West with increased vigour, and in August, 1665
Father Claude Allouez, following the old course
of the Ottawa, on the first day of October reached the principal village of the Chippewas in the
Bay of Che-goi.me-gon. A chapel dedicated to
the Holy Spirit soon arose amid the green luxu.
* Bancroft.




38         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
riance of the forest, and the passions of the rough
tribes were subdued by paintings which the missionary displayed of the horrors of hell and the
terrors of the final judgment. The dwellers around
St. Mary flocked to his station; the Hurons and Ottawas, upon the deserts north of Lake Superior, se.
cured his presence at their wigwams; and the Pottowatomies, from the borders of Lake Michigan, invited him to their homes, while the Sacs and Foxes travelled from their villages, and the Illinois came
to gather counsel and to describe the beauties of
their quiet river. The Sioux, also, from the west
of Lake Superior, in a land of prairies, living on
wild rice and in skin-covered cabins, welcomed the
stranger.  After residing for nearly two years
upon the southern margin of Lake Superior, in Au.
gust of 1667 he returned to Quebec, and urged the
establishment of permanent missions, to be accompanied by colonies of French emigrants upon the
lakes; but in two days after reaching that post, with
another priest, Louis Nicholas, he returned to the
mission of Che-goi-me-gon.
The condition of Canada at that time was favourable to the progress of the missions of this
portion of the West. The monopoly of the West
India Company, organized for the purpose of pros.
ecuting the fur-trade, had been yielded up. Peace
was enjoyed, and a new recruit of missionaries




EXPLORATIONS OF THE JESUITS.      39
had arrived from France. Aided by such advantages, Allouez, Claude Dablon, and James Marquette
in 1668 repaired to the Chippewas and established
the mission of St. Mary, the first settlement commenced by Europeans within the boundaries of
Michigan. During the following years these missionaries were employed in strengthening the powev
of France over the possessions which she claimed,
from Green Bay to the head of Lake Superior, and
in collecting information respecting the region extending towards the Mississippi. They resolved
the following year to attempt its exploration, and
selected as a companion a young Illinois, for the
purpose of becoming acquainted with the dialect of
that tribe.
The commerce of the fur-trade between the
Algonquins and the French secured the protection
of their tribes and their deep attachment, while a
desire of strengthening the power of France over
the Western territory pervaded the mind of Louis
of France, and Colbert his minister. Talon, the in.
tendant-general, moreover, desired to advance the
same object, and for this purpose despatched his
agent, Nicholas Perrot, in order to call a general
congress of the lake tribes at the Falls of St. Mary.
Procuring at Green Bay a guard of Pottowatomies, he reached the settlement of the Miamis at




40         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Chicago, the first of civilized men who had ever
visited that point.
The desired Congress of the Indian tribes con.
vened at the Falls of St. Mary in May of 1671,
was composed of prominent delegates from the
head waters of the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi,
the lakes, and even the Red River; and of veteran
officers from the armies of France, intermingled
here and there with a Jesuit missionary. A cross
having been raised, and also a cedar post marked
with the French lilies, the representatives of the
savage hordes were informed that they were under
the protection of the French king. During that
year Marquette gathered a branch of the Hurons
at Point St. Ignace, upon the continent north of the
peninsula of Michigan, an establishment that was
long a convenient resting-place for the savages and
the fur-trade.
In 1672, Allouez and Dablon, who were the active agents of the French government in carrying
the cross through the eastern part of Wisconsin
and the north of Illinois, seeking by mild means to
secure the good offices of the Kickapoos upon the
Milwaukie and of the Miamis of Lake Michigan, ex.
plored the countries to the south of the village that
had been thus founded by Marquette, and had even
extended their explorations to the tribes of the
Foxes, then scattered along the banks of the Fox




EXPLORATION OF MARQUETTE.        41
River. But the power of the French in this quar.
ter was mainly confined to the immediate shores
of the lakes and their connecting waters. Beyond
these was a river flowing thousands of miles into
the sea, which had never been traced to its outlet,
of which Allouez had reported the name to be
Messipi, or the Great River. This stream, long
the object of curious inquiry, was now to be sought,
in order that the French power might be spread
along its banks.
Thus laboured Marquette, a solitary missionary
upon the lakes, until 1673, when M. Talon, the in
tendant-general of the colony, ambitious to close
his career in that region with something of honour,
despatched M. Joliet, a citizen of Quebec, to this
man, and unfolded, at the same time, a project for
the exploration of the country along the line of the
Michisepee, or the Great River, to its mouth, which
current reports declared flowed into a large sea.*
Nor was Marquette unwilling to aid the enterprise.
Upon the thirteenth of May, everything being
ready, this adventurer, together with Joliet and five
other Frenchmen, left Michilimackinac in two bark
canoes, supplied with Indian corn and jerked meat,
and commenced their voyage to the unknown
country. They soon arrived at an Indian village which was familiar to Marquette, and made
* Marquette's Journal.




42         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
known to the savages their plan. These savages,
however, seemed to be horror.struck at the bold.
ness of the project to explore the great river.
There were Indians in that quarter, they told the
whites, who would destroy them; monsters who
would swallow up them and their canoes; a demon
who would ingulf all who ventured near his watery and boiling domain, and heats that would
parch them.   I thanked them for their good advice," says Marquette, " but informed them I could
not follow it, since the salvation of souls was at
stake, for which I should be overjoyed to give my
life."
The navigators now passed through Green Bay,
from the mud of which there arose, says the voya.
ger, " mischievous vapours, which cause the most
grand and perpetual thunders I ever heard."
They entered the Fox River, and, dragging their ca.
noes through the rapids, and cutting their feet with
the stones, they soon arrived at a village where
there lived together a band of the Miamis, Mascoutens, and Kickapoos. Here they found a cross
hung with skins, because the Great Spirit had giv.
en to the Indians a successful chase. Father Allouez had been here, and had taught them that the
cross was the only visible emblem of the true religion. This village was at that time the remote
boundary of western exploration, and beyond it no




EXPLORATION OF MARQUETTE.        43
Frenchman had before gone.   They were now
journeying through a country before unknown to
white men. On the 10th of July the adventurers
left these savages amazed at the hardihood of the
whites, and, aided by two guides, started for the
stream, which was believed to run but three leagues
distant from the Mississippi, and to flow into that
river. The Indian guides, having conducted them
to the portage without any mishap, left them
(' alone amid that unknown country, in the hand ot
God." Advancing with prayers, they soon arrived
at the Wisconsin, a stream abounding with sandbars, but studded with islands and bordered by
banks green with vegetation, and variegated by
groves and pleasant slopes. Floating down the
stream in their canoes, they arrived, on the 17th
of June, at the Mississippi, " with joy," says Mar.
quette, " that I cannot express."*
The adventurers had now reached the main
channel, which they were to explore to its mouth,
and, after having admired the herds of buffalo and
deer which roamed along its borders, and the swans
which floated upon its surface, as well as some
great fish which nearly dashed their canoes to
atoms, they at length came to the footprints of
human beings on the sand, and a trail leading to a
* Early French Travellers in the West, in the North Amer
ican Review.




44          HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
meadow. Leaving their canoes in charge of the
crew, Joliet and Marquette now advanced towards
what seemed to them an Indian village, sufficiently
near to hear the voice of the savages. With pray.
ers they made known their presence by a loud cry,
and were soon received by an embassy of four old
men, who presented them the pipe of peace, and
informed them at the same time that they were in
a village of the Illinois.  The French voyagers
were here entertained with a grand feast, accompanied with much smoking. The feast consisted
of four courses; the first was of hominy, the second of fish, the third of dog, and the fourth of
roasted buffalo. When the feast had been conclu.
ded, they were marched through the town with
much ceremony, and, having passed the night quietly, they were escorted by six hundred Indians to
their canoes. The Illinois, says Marquette, were
handsome, kindly, and effeminate.  They used
guns, and were feared by the savages of the South
and West, where they made many prisoners, and
sold them as slaves.*
Having left the Illinois, the voyagers passed the
rocks on which were painted the monsters of
whose existence they had heard at Lake Michigan,
and reached the mouth of the Missouri. Leav.
ing the Missouri, they encountered the demon
~ Early French Travellers in the West.




EXPLORATION OF MARQUETTE.        45
against which they had been warned, that was no.
thing more than a great rock in the stream, and
soon arrived at the Ohio. From the Ohio, al.
though somewhat troubled by the moschetoes, they
passed in safety to the region of the Arkansas.X
At this place they were attacked by a crowd
of warriors, and would have been overpowered
had not Marquette presented the pipe of peace,
which softened the rough savages; for, says the
Jesuit, " God touched their hearts."  On the succeeding day they proceeded on their way, and
were feasted by the hospitable savages upon corn
and dogmeat cooked in earthenware, the Indians
being amiable and ceremonious, passing the dish
from one to another. Here the voyagers de.
termined to return to the North, as they were now
confident of the place where the Mississippi was
discharged, that being the principal object of the
expedition.  In consequence, they left Akamsca
on the 17th of July, retracing their track; and,
amazed at the numbers of " grounds, meadows,
woods, buffaloes, stags, deer, wildcats, bustards,
swans, ducks, paroquets, and beavers" upon the
Illinois River, they arrived at Green Bay in September of that year, where they reported what they
had seen.
Father Marquette returned to the Illinois, and
performed his clerical offices by their request un



46         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
til the year 1765. On the 18th of May, as he was
passing through Lake Michigan in his canoes, he
proposed to land at the mouth of a small stream
running from the peninsula to perform mass, and
retired a little distance to pray. Not returning,
his men went in pursuit of him, and soon discovered the missionary, but he was dead; and they
made a grave and buried him in the sand, upon
the western part of the peninsula of Michigan, on
the borders of a stream which now bears his name,
and where the place of his interment was recently
to be seen. Thus passed away this quiet man in the
wilderness, after a long life spent in doing good.
Yet he left the impression of his virtues behind
him, and his name the world has embalmed and
will perpetuate.
At length the enterprise of Robert de la Salle,
a native of Normandy, in France, a young man of
strong passions but great energy, entered upon a
project which had for its object the perpetuation of
the power of France by the permanent coloniza.
tion of the West. La Salle was, according to
Charlevoix, brought up among the Jesuits,* and,
having lost his patrimony in France, and being of
an adventurous and enterprising spirit, he turned
his mind to the French colonies on this side of the
Atlantic about the year 1670. Having arrived at
* Charlevoix's Lettpes.




ROBERT DE LA SALLE.          47
the Canadian port, he occupied himself with a proj.
ect, popular in that day, connected with a short
passage to China, and had already planned an expedition across the great lakes to the banks of the
Pacific when Father Marquette returned from the
Mississippi. The highly-coloured views which this
missionary gave of the country, and its extensive
channels of interior communication westward, kindled the sanguine mind of La Salle, and induced
him to redouble his exertions to carry out his
object. With that view he resorted to M. de
Frontenac, then the governor-general of Canada,
and at once laid before him the dim but gigantic
outline of his project, having for its end the exten.
sion of the French power, by constructing a chain
of fortifications at the most prominent points along
the lakes and rivers of the West. The first step
towards this favourite scheme was to rebuild Fort
Frontenac, which lies on Lake Ontario, of stone,
and the politic adventurer deemed this an important point to win the favour of the governor-general, as that fort was called after his name. Frontenac entered warmly into his views. Believing that
the French power would be greatly strengthened
by carrying out the design, he advised La Salle
to apply directly to the King of France, and, to
aid his application for royal patronage, he gave the
adventurer letters to Seigneilay, who, as minister
D




48         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
of marine, had succeeded his father, the well-known
Colbert.
With glowing hopes, La Salle now resorted to
the French king, and made known his wants. His
plan was approved by the minister, who received
his letter, and he was invested with the title of chevalier, and also with the seignory of Fort Frontenac, on the condition that he would rebuild it.
From all the nobility of that country he received
also assurances of full countenance and aid.* En.
couraged by these assurances, La Salle, with his
lieutenant, Tonti, an Italian, and thirty men, sail.
ed from Rochelle on the 14th of July, 1678, reach.
ed Quebec on the 15th of September of the same
year, and soon after proceeded to Fort Frontenac.*
Here he found labouring in the missionary cause
Louis Hennepin, a friar of the Franciscan order,
daring, vain, and determined, ambitious to reap the
glory of discovery, and not too scrupulous as to
the means. Hennepin had been appointed by his
religious superiors acting missionary, to accompany the expedition of La Salle, and arrived at
this point, in readiness to meet him, in October of
1678.t
The chevalier having no means to carry out his
project, and being at that time somewhat involved
* See Charlevoix's New-France.
t Hennepin's New Discovery.




LA SALLE'S EXPEDITION.        49
in debt, was obliged to cast about for money to
advance his enterprise. He commenced operations, accordingly, by sending forward a party of
his men along the shores of the lakes to collect
skins, from which he might accumulate something
to pay his winter expenses; for he had an exclusive right from the French monarch to trade in
that region. The advantages of this course were
twofold: for, while the Frenchmen whom he should
despatch were collecting the furs, they could, at the
same time, prepare the minds of the Indians for his
coming. In the first place, it was made a part of
his duty to alter and repair Fort Frontenac; Lake
Ontario was to be navigated; a fort was to be
built on Lake Erie, and a bark of extraordinary
size for those inland seas was to be constructed.
All these duties devolved upon himself; and, with
the small funds which he had to accomplish them,
they would, to a man of moderate soul, have ap.
peared formidable. But to the stout heart of the
French cavalier they were as nothing; for his perseverance was unconquerable; and his ambition
looked forward to the time when his name should
be covered with glory as the benefactor of France,
and the Columbus of its colonies in the West.
Having despatched his men for the objects which
have been mentioned, La Salle embarked upon
Lake Ontario, with his followers, on the 18th of




50         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
November, 1678, in a little vessel of ten tons,
"the first ship that had ever sailed on that freshwater sea." Against strong winds the vessel was
finally, after having occupied four weeks in beating
up from Kingston to Niagara, pushed as near the
falls as could be done with safety, and the adven.
turers landed. Here some magazines were built
with great difficulty, as the ground was frozen, and
the posts could be driven down only by pouring
boiling water upon.the surface, and thus thawing
the earth. Here also they formed their first ac.
quaintance with the Iroquois of Niagara Village
upon Lake Erie, and founded a second fort; but,
impeded by the jealousy of the Iroquois, they re.
linquished the project, and merely erected a tem.
porary work to secure the magazines. Leaving orders for his men to build another vessel, La Salle
returned to Fort Frontenac to procure anchors, ca.
bles, chains, and other outfits for his new ship.
Through the winter days, when Lake Erie lay be.
fore them covered with ice, like "a plain paved
with fine-polished marble," his men hammered upon
the ship, while others gathered furs and peltry in
the forest, or strove to gain the good-will of the
Iroquois, who claimed the country through which
they were to pass, and who had never shown them.
selves the special friends of the French. On the
20th of January, 1679, the chevalier returned.




LA SALLE'S EXPEDITION.        51
The vessel in which his outfits had been embarked
was wrecked; and, although the most valuable part
of her cargo was saved, the greater portion of her
provisions went to the bottom. This, however, did
not dishearten the stout-hearted adventurer. A
considerable quantity of furs was collected during
the winter, with which the commander, in the
spring of 1679, returned to Fort Frontenac, and
Tonti was sent out upon the shores of the lakes to
muster his men, who had been before despatched
into that region. The vessel, however, was at
length built, in spite of all these obstacles, rigged
and manned, and made ready to sail.
The chain of fortifications thus projected by La
Salle was afterward constructed upon the water.
line of the Northwest, and its remains are still to
be seen stretching from the shores of Lake Ontario
to the mouth of the Mississippi.
On the seventh day of the month of August, 1679,
the bark of sixty tons burden having at length been
built, she started on the first voyage which had
ever been made upon that inland sea, amid the
sound of Te Deums and the discharge of arquebuses. This vessel was named the Griffin, and the
image of that animal was carved on her prow.
Robert de la Salle was her commander; and Louis
Hennepin, the missionary, burning with ardour to
make new discoveries, and also the journalist of




52         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
the expedition, was on board. The crew consisted
of fur-traders taken from the Canadian colonies.
They sounded while they ploughed along the waves
of Lake Erie, as they did not know the depth of the
water, and on the tenth of the same month they
arrived near the islands which are grouped at the
entrance of the Detroit River, where they anchored.*  Hennepin says of these islands, "They
make the finest prospect in the world. The strait
(of Detroit) is finer than Niagara, being one league
broad, excepting that part which forms the lake
that we have called St. Clair."
The explorers, passing up the river and advancing across Lake Huron, soon landed on the shore
of the northern part of the peninsula of Michigan,
and in August they built the old Fort of Michilimackinac. The descriptions of the country by
these early travellers, although not entirely accu.
rate, are interesting, and they will be regarded as
of great value when the shores of the lakes shall
be crowded with a dense population. Of the scen.
ery Hennepin remarks: "The country between
the two lakes (Erie and Huron) is very well situated, and the soil very fertile. The banks of the
strait (Detroit) are vast meadows, and the prospect is terminated with some hills covered with
vineyards, trees bearing good fruit, groves and for.
* Hennepin




LA SALLE'S EXPEDITION.         53
ests so well disposed, that one would think Nature
alone could not have made, without the help of art,
so charming a prospect. That country is stocked
with stags, wild goats, and bears, which are good
for food, and not fierce as in other countries; some
think they are better than our pork. Turkey.
cocks and swans are there very common; and our
men brought several other beasts and birds, whose
names are unknown to us, but they are extraordinary relishing.
"The forests are chiefly made up of walnut,
chestnut, plum, and pear trees, loaded with their own
fruit, and vines. There is also abundance of timber for building; so that those who shall be so
happy as to inhabit that noble country cannot but
remember with gratitude them who have led the
way."
From Michilimackinac the French explorers
went down to Green Bay. Here La Salle collect.
ed a cargo of furs, and despatched them in the
Griffin back to Niagara, in order to pay the debts
which he owed in that quarter. But the vessel
was never heard of afterward. With fourteen of
his Frenchmen he now paddled down Lake Michigan in canoes, marking the shoals of that lake by
bearskins stuck on poles, and feeding on the flesh
of that animal. On the first of November, having
reached the St. Joseph River of Lake Michigan,




54         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
he built another rude fort at its mouth, called Fort
Miami. Tonti, the Italian, La Salle's lieutenant,
had been sent out upon the borders of the lake with
some of his men to procure venison and to collect
the straggling Frenchmen, and the party remained
at St. Joseph awaiting the return of the Griffin.
But winter now came on, and the Griffin did
not appear. The party of La Salle, therefore,
on the 1st of September, occupied themselves in
driving palisades near the mouth of the St. Joseph
River of Lake Michigan, in order to warn off the
French bark from the shoals upon the borders of
that lake. If the lakes should be frozen before the
vessel returned, new obstacles would be thrown in
his way; for the wilderness presented but few
friendly inhabitants and cultivated fields, the shores
of the lakes no hospitable ports, so that he deter.
mined to proceed upon " his great voyage and glorious undertaking;" and, collecting his crew, and
leaving in the rude fort of St. Joseph a few men,
he set out with the remainder and three monks.
Passing to the Illinois, the party descended that
river " by easie journeys, the better to observe that
countrey," which abounded with marshes, where
no safe footing could be obtained. Through these
swamps the adventurers proceeded until they ar.
rived at a village of the Illinois Indians, which con.
tained about five hundred untenanted cabins. Here




LA SALLE'S EXPEDITION.         55
the party of the Sieur de la Salle, being worn down
with hunger, provided themselves with a quantity
of corn, which was found hidden in holes in the
ground under the Indian wigwams, and placed it
on shipboard. This point is supposed to have been
the present site of Rock Fort, upon the Illinois.*
On the 4th of January, 1780, the ship being ready
and the voyagers prepared, they proceeded into a
lake believed to be Peoria, where they caught
some good fish with which they might season their
corn, when bands of savages appeared on both sides
of the river, to which they had now returned.
When, however, the startled Frenchmen supposed
that, having been engaged in depredation, their
season of fighting had arrived, they were agreeably surprised by being asked who they were, the
savages " being naturally inclined to peace." The
question having been answered, they were received
by the Indians with much kindness, who, not as
savages are used to do, but " as men well-bred
and civilized," spread out before the needy voyagers " beef, and stag, and all sorts of venison and
fowls." This hospitable reception was repaid by
discharges of firearms, and by presenting them
large draughts of brandy. A feast, continuing
three days, was at length concluded, and the Frenchmen discovered in the Illinois great humanity, and
* See " Early French Travellers in the West"
E




56         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
a " good disposition to civil society."  They were
"flatterers complaisant and cunning," and, although they paid a sort of respect to virtue, they
were still effeminate and dissolute.*  In the midst
of this nation La Salle concluded to build another
fort, for the pacific character of the Indians in that
quarter induced him to select this as its most favourable site. A point upon the rising ground,
near the river, was chosen for that object, and here
a rude fortification was built, which La Salle
named Crevecceur, the Broken Heart: a touching
name, indicating his disappointment, occasioned by
the loss of the Griffin and the consequent wreck of
his hopes, the jealousy of a portion of the savages,
who had been persuaded that he was a friend of the
Iroquois, and the mutiny of his men, which had already begun to show itself by administering to him
poison: misfortunes which sunk him in poverty,
casting a gloom over his burning but iron heart,
beclouding his glorious visions, and plunging him
in doubt and despair.
The winter was passed, and La Salle remained
in the wilderness until the vegetation began to
spring up on the prairies. Bereft of property, with
his men, who even sought his life, fast deserting
him, with Indians around him, instigated by capricious and uncertain motives, he still had left his
* Tonti's Account of La Salle's Expedition.




LA SALLE S EXPEDITION.        57
own determined spirit: a spirit fearless of obstacles,
which burned the brighter amid the gloom that encompassed it. He found it necessary, therefore, to
return to the Canadian colonies to raise men and
money, and to prepare another outfit, for he was
still firmly resolved to persevere in his original
project. In accordance with this determination, he
employed M. Dacan and Father Louis Hennepin
to proceed from that point on an expedition for the
discovery of the sources of the Mississippi, with a
party consisting of eight persons, and on the last
day of February, 1680, he started them on their
voyage. At Fort Crevecaeur the chevalier remained until the succeeding November, leaving
Tonti and his men among the Illinois, and then de.
parted from that fort for Canada. On his passage
along the river, being struck with the position of a
high rock upon the bank, he at once determined to
construct a fort at that point, and, marking out a
plan, sent it to Tonti at Fort Crevecoeur. Tonti
immediately proceeded to the execution of the project, but had hardly commenced when a revolt broke
out among the men whom he had left at Fort Crevecoeur, and he was obliged to return. This new
fort was named St. Louis, and was placed under
the command of Tonti when La Salle returned to
France. Its site was probably the spot that is now
called Rock Fort, in La Salle county, Illinois,




58         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Tonti, thus left in the woods with a garrison of
undisciplined Frenchmen, lived on with little quie.
tude until September of 1681, when, to his horror,
a body of the Iroquois appeared in this region,
having been irritated during a journey along the
borders of the lakes. What was the policy of
Tonti in reference to these two hostile savage nations does not clearly appear, yet it is evident that
he must have preserved neutral ground, acting as
a mediator between them. But succour did not
come; and at length he was obliged to return to
Canada with five men, in the middle of September
of the same year, reaching Lake Michigan in Oc.
tober, and spending the winter upon its borders.
Thus ended this expedition for discovery along
the shores of the great lakes, under the auspices
of an individual who should be known as the first
navigator of Lake Erie.
But let La Salle be followed to the close of his
adventurous career. He had returned to Canada,
where he busied himself in raising recruits, constructing vessels, and gathering funds; and the
spring of 1682 found him again upon the Illinois,
manning Crevecceur, rebuilding Fort St. Louis, and
soon returning to Fort Frontenac to prepare for
his second voyage, which commenced on the Illinois River in 1683, when the mouth of the Missis.
sippi was descried. But La Salle soon departed




LA SALLE'S EXPEDITION.        59
for France, to lay before the throne the record of
what he had done, and also his project for the ex.
ploration and settlement of the far-famed Louisiana.
A fleet was provided by the agency of Seigneilay,
consisting of twenty-four vessels, four of which
were destined for Louisiana, carrying two hundred
and eighty persons, soldiers, artificers, and "women." Starting on his voyage across the ocean, on
the 24th of July, 1684, he reached his destined
point, where he was assassinated by his own men.
Thus fell La Salle; a man of energy, accomplished, virtuous, ardent, and self-sacrificing; one of a
class who ruin themselves while they benefit the
world, neglect the means of happiness, and raise
up for themselves a lasting remembrance.*
No settlement had at this time been made at
Detroit, because the traders and Jesuit missiona.
ries had a more direct and safer route to the upper lakes, from Montreal to Michilimackinac, by
the way of the Ottawa River. But this point had
long been regarded an eligible position for a settle.
ment, as it commanded a broad tract of country,
and stood, as it were, at the gate of the upper
lakes, in a direct route from these lakes to the
English colonies of New-York, by the way of Lake
Erie.
The French and English both desired to obtain
* Bancroft.




60         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
possession of this post. But while the English
were looking to its acquisition, they were anticipated by their rivals. Taking counsel from the
movements of their opponents, the French called a
grand meeting of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, at
Montreal. The chiefs of the different tribes from
the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi attended this
meeting; also the principal men and the governor.
general of Canada. Here the establishment of a
post at that place was discussed, and the grounds
on which the two nations based their claims to it
weighed. The Iroquois, however, said that, un.
derstanding the French were about to make a set.
tlement at that point, they were opposed to the
measure, as they had already prohibited the English from doing the same. The governor-general
of Canada replied that the land belonged neither
to the Iroquois nor to the English, but to the King
of France, and that there was already an expedi.
tion on the march for the purpose of erecting a
colonial establishment at that place. In accordance with this plan, Antoine de la Motte Cadillac,
lord of Bouaget, Mont Desert, having been granted a tract of fifteen acres square by Louis XIV.,
left Montreal, accompanied by a Jesuit missionary
and one hundred men, and arrived at the point of
the wilderness which is now the site of Detroit, in
onth of July, 1701, where they commenced




FRENCH POSTS ON THE LAKES.         61
the foundation of the first permanent settlement
in Michigan.* Before it had only been known by
the French missionaries as a trading-post, and in
1620 it was occupied by an Indian village, which
was called Teuchsa Grondie.t  The Saulte de St. 
Marie, as we have seen, had at that time been
founded, and a rude post was also erected at Fort
Gratiot, which was a resting-point for the furtrade.
This chain of fortifications was all the defence
which was constructed upon the lake shores for
nearly a century and a half, and it comprised a
part of that line of forts that was projected by La
Salle, extending from the St. Lawrence down the
Mississippi to New.Orleans. Their object was to
furnish outposts by which the territory of Canada
on the borders of the lakes could be held, the English settlements hemmed in, the Jesuit missionaries
and settlers protected against the numerous and
capricious tribes of savages in this quarter, and
by which the fur-trade might circulate, with full
success, along the lakes and streams of the Northwest. The forts of Detroit, Michilimackinac, St.
Joseph, and Green Bay were of rude construction,
and the chapels erected by their side were used
for the religious assemblies of the French settlers,
who were from that time collected around the
* Charlevoix.,         Golden.




62         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
posts, and also of the Indians who were under the
special guardianship of the Jesuit missionaries.
These structures, minute points on the borders of
the forest, were either roofed with bark or thatched with straw, and on their top was generally erected the cross.  Tribes of friendly Indians that
could be induced to settle near them, had their villages or wigwams around these posts, and also
their planting-grounds, in which they cultivated
Indian corn, not only for the French settlers, but
also for the persons connected with the fur-trade.*
They derive their principal importance from the
fact that they were the only outposts of the French
government in this country before the English conquest, and, consequently, the theatres of the most
interesting frontier operations.
About three years after Detroit was founded, the
Ottawa Indians in that vicinity were invited to Albany, in New-York, upon what was supposed to be
a friendly visit. As St. Joseph was surrounded by
villages of the Hurons, Pottawatomies, and Miamis, so also was Detroit at that time guarded by
parts of the friendly tribes of the Hurons and Pottawatomies near the settlements, and an Ottawa
village had been erected on the opposite bank of
the river. It would appear that while the Ottawas
were in Albany, they had been persuaded by the
* La Hontan's Voyages.




DETROIT ATTACKED.           63
English, who even then wished to obtain possession
of the post of their rivals, that it was the design of
the French to wrest the dominion of the country
from their hands; and they accordingly set fire to
the town, but without success, as the fire was soon
extinguished. At this time, also, groups of savages of the same tribe, having made a successful
expedition against their enemies the Iroquois, and
warm with victory, were seen paraded in hostile
array in front of the fort; but M. Tonti, who was
the commandant of the post, despatching the Sieur
de Vincennes against them, he dispersed their
bands, and rescued the Iroquois prisoners whom
they left behind them in their flight.*
The progress of operations on the lake shores
was not at this period marked with any very great
interest, as the settlements were few; but they re.
fleet, nevertheless, the spirit which prevailed in
France during their continuance. The lands lay
sleeping in their original silence and solitude, undisturbed by the plough. Occasionally the settlers
may have been surprised by their ancient enemies
the Iroquois, but the appearance of parts of these
nations excited a surprise which soon settled down
into peace. But in 1712, the Ottagamies or Foxes,
who had been before but little known, but who
were probably in secret alliance with the Iroquois,
* Cass.




64         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
projected a plan for the destruction of Detroit.
They made their arrangements in secret, and sent
their bands to collect around the new French settlement, which was then garrisoned by a force of
twenty soldiers, of whom M. Du Buisson was the
commandant. The occupants of the three French
villages of Indians, the Ottawas, Pottawatomies;
and Hurons, were then absent on a hunting excursion. A converted Indian, however, under the
influence of a Jesuit missionary, disclosed their
plot before it was ripe for execution, and Du Buisson immediately sent despatches through the forest
to call in the aid of the friendly Indians, and prepared for an effective defence.
On the 13th of May of that year, the Foxes made
their onset upon Detroit with fiendish yells. No
sooner, however, was the attack commenced, than
portions of the friendly Indians were seen through
the wilderness, painted for battle as is their custom,
and the gates of the fort were opened to receive
them. A consultation was now held at the council-house, and they renewed their league with Du
Buisson, and expressed their determination, if necessary, to die in the defence of the post. On the
arrival of the friendly Indians, the Foxes retreated
to the forest which now adjoins the eastern boundary of Detroit, and intrenched themselves in their
camp.




DETROIT AGAIN ATTACKED.         65
The French then sallied out from the fort, and,
backed by their savage allies, elected a blockhouse
in front of their camp, in order to force the enemy
from their position. Here the latter were closely besieged; being cut off from their supply of
water, and driven to desperation by thirst and
famine, they in turn rushed out from their strongholds upon the French and the friendly Indians,
and succeeded in getting possession of a house
near the village. This house they fortified, but
they were here attacked by the French cannon,
and driven back to their former intrenchment.
Finding that their league was likely to prove unsuccessful, the Foxes now sent despatches to the
French commandant, asking for peace, which was
denied them.  Upon this they considered themselves insulted, and, burning with revenge, they
discharged showers of blazing arrows upon the
fort. The lighted matches they had affixed to
their arrows coming in contact with the dry roofs
of the houses, kindled them into flame, when the
precaution was taken to cover the rest with wet
skins, and by this means they were preserved.*
The desperation of the Foxes almost discouraged
the French commandant, and he had nearly deter.
mined to evacuate Detroit and to retire to iichilimackinac, when his Indian allies promised to re* Cass.




66         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
double their efforts for his defence; and the warsongs and dances of their bands, heard through the
solitude of the forest, assured him that a more desperate effort was about to be made in his behalf.
The preparations having been finished, the French
and Indians advanced upon the Foxes with more
determined courage, and, pouring upon their intrenchments a deadly fire, they were soon filled
with the dying and the dead.  Once more the
Foxes demanded peace. Before any capitulation,
however, was completed, the enemy retreated towards Lake St. Clair during a storm at midnight,
on the nineteenth day of the siege.*
The French and their Indian allies, as soon as
they discovered their flight, prepared for a pursuit,
and soon came upon their camps. An action began, which at the outset was in favour of the Foxes, the French and Indians being repulsed. But
a different plan of operation was soon after adopt.
ed, and with better success. At the end of three
days a field-battery was completed, and the intrenchment of the Foxes fell before the French
cannon.
The Foxes may be considered the Ishmaelites
of the wilderness, for they were at enmity with all
the tribes on the lakes. They collected their for.
ces on the Fox River of Green Bay, where they
* Cas.




THE FOXES.              67
commanded the territory between the lakes and the
Mississippi, so that it was dangerous for travellers
to pass through that region except in large bodies,
and armed, while their warriors were sent out to
seek objects of plunder and devastation. So great
was the danger apprehended by the missionaries
and traders in passing through that territory, as
well as by the French settlers, and so great the
injury already done by those tribes, that an expedition was fitted out against them by the French,
backed by their Indian allies, who were rankling
under a sense of repeated wrongs. This warlike
nation had stationed itself on the banks of the Fox
River, at a place then and now called by the
French Butte des Morts, or the Hill of the Dead,
defending their position by a ditch and three courses of palisades.* Here they collected their women and children, and prepared for a desperate resistance. M. de Louvigny, the commandant of
the expedition, perceiving the strength of their
works, determined not to expose his men by a direct attack, but entered upon a regular siege, and
was preparing for the final crisis when the Foxes
proposed a capitulation. This was accepted; and
the pride of the Foxes being thus humbled, they
sank into obscurity during the remainder of the
French war.*
* Cas&




68         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Thus it is seen that, although the few French
forts upon the lakes were rudely constructed, and
but poorly adapted to make a serious and effective
defence, they were nevertheless competent, with
their small garrisons, to protect the emigrants
against the disaffected tribes which were from
time to time arrayed against them.  The pick.
ets which surrounded them, composed of upright
stakes, furnished a line of concealment rather than
strong bulwarks, and, together with the light can.
non with which they were mounted, enabled the
French to suppress the disturbances that occa.
sionally sprang up around their posts.*
The early missionaries and French travellera
who journeyed through the region of the lakes
exhibit a peculiar form of character. Tinctured
with the spirit which prevailed in France at the
period of their immigration, the novel scenes around
them impressed them with those sentiments of romance so peculiar to the French. They show the
spirit under which the missionaries and soldiers
travelled, and the eloquence with which the scenes'
around them tended to inspire their minds.
The forests amid which their lot was cast were
calculated to fill them with wonder and admiration. A vast chain of inland seas, which appeared
to them like oceans, stretched a watery horizon
* Cass.




CHARACTER OF THE EARLY EXPLORERS. 69
along the borders of the wilderness. Flocks of
water-fowl of varied plumage streamed along the
shores of the lakes, and the waters swarmed with
fish. The face of nature, fresh in the luxuriance
of a virgin soil, was everywhere clothed with
magnificent vegetation. Did they travel through
the Indian trails or bridle-paths which wound
through the forest, extensive tracts of oaklands,
that seemed like cultivated parks, met their eye,
studded with little crystal lakes and streams, and
covered with flowers. Herds of buffaloes wandered over the prairies, trampling down the flowers which blushed in their track as they rushed
on in clumsy motion.*  Great numbers of moose
and elk, which in the size of their horns almost
rivalled the branches of the trees, bounded through
the thickets. Deer were here and there seen feed.
ing upon the margin of the water-courses. Flocks
of wild turkeys and other game filled the woods;
the prairies were alive with grouse, and pigeons
swept along like clouds above the forest, in numbers which sometimes almost hid the sun.
But more than this, they beheld in the luxuriance
of the soil a prize which, if judiciously managed,
would be a source of inexhaustible wealth to their
nation. Rich clusters of grapes hung from the
trees,,vhich reminded them of the champaign dis* Charlevoix.




70          HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
tricts of France from which they emigrated; and
apples and plums, crude to the taste, but that by
culture might be much improved, abounded in the
groves.
"Lake Erie," says La Hontan, who commanded a fort upon it in 1688, " is justly dignified with
the illustrious name of Conti; for assuredly it is
the finest upon earth.  You may judge of the
goodness of the climate from the latitude of the
countries that surround it. Its circumference extends to two hundred and thirty leagues, but it affords everywhere a charming prospect, and its
shores are decked with oak-trees, elms, chest.
nut-trees, walnut, apple, plum-trees, and vines
which bear their fine clusters up to the very tops
of the trees, upon a sort of ground that lies as
smooth as one's hand. Such ornaments as these
are sufficient to give rise to the most agreeable
idea of a landscape in the world. I cannot express what quantities of deer and turkeys are to
be found in these woods, and in the vast meadows
that lie upon the south side of the lake. At the
foot of the lake we find wild beeves (buffaloes),
upon the banks of two pleasant streams that disembogue into it, without cataracts or rapid currents. It abounds with sturgeon and whitefish,
but trouts are very scarce in it, as well as the other
fish that we take in the Lakes of Hurons (Huron)




CHARACTER OF THE EARLY EXPLORERS. 71
and llinese (Michigan). It is clear of shelves,
rocks, and banks of sand, and has fourteen or fifteen fathoms water. The savages assure us that
it is never disturbed by high winds except in the
months of December, January, and February, and
even then but seldom, which I am very apt to believe, for we had very few storms when I wintered
in my fort in 1688, though the fort lay open to the
Lake of Hurons. The banks of this lake are
commonly frequented by none but warriors, whether the Iroquese, the Illinese, the Oumamies, &c.,
and it is very dangerous to stop there. By this
means it comes to pass that the stags, roebucks,
and turkeys run in great bodies up and down the
shore all around the lake. In former times the
Errironons and the Andastogueronons lived upon
the confines of the lake; but they were extirpated
by the Iroquese, as well as the other nations mark.
ed on the map."*
Charlevoix, who travelled through the region of
the lakes in 1720 as an accredited agent of the
French government, gives an account equally interesting respecting the condition of the country
at the time when he wrote. "The first of June
being the day of Pentecost," says he, "after having travelled up a beautiful river for the space of
an hour, which has its rise, as they say, at a great
* La Hontan's Voyage.
F




72         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
distance, and runs between two fine meadows, we
passed over a carrying.place of about sixty paces
in breadth, in order to avoid turning round a point
which is called the Long Point. It is a very sandy
spot of ground, and naturally bears a great quantity of vines. The following days I saw nothing
remarkable, but coasted along a charming country, hid at times by very disagreeable prospects,
which, however, are of no great extent. Wherever I went ashore, I was enchanted by the beauty
and variety of a prospect which was terminated by
the noblest forests in the whole world. Add to
this, that every part of it swarms with water.fowl.
I cannot say whether the woods afford game in
equal profusion, but I well know that on the south
side there is a prodigious quantity of buffaloes.
Were we all to sail as I then did, with a serene
sky, in a most charming climate, and in water as
clear as that of the purest fountain; were we sure
of finding everywhere secure and agreeable places
to pass the night in, where we might enjoy the
pleasure of hunting at a small expense, breathe at
our ease the purest air, and enjoy the prospect of
the finest countries in the universe, we might possibly be tempted to travel to the end of our days.
I recalled to mind those ancient patriarchs who
had no fixed place of abode; who lived in tents;
who were, in a manner, the masters of all the coun.




CHARLEVOIX AT DETROIT.         73
tries they passed through; and who enjoyed in
peace and tranquillity all their productions, without
the plague inevitable in the possession of a real
and fixed estate. How many oaks represented to
me that of Mamre! How many fountains put me
in mind of that of Jacob! Each day a new situation, chosen at pleasure; a neat and commodious
house, built and furnished with all necessaries in
less than a quarter of an hour, and floored with a
pavement of flowers continually springing up on
a carpet of the most beautiful green; on all sides
simple and natural beauties, unadulterated and inimitable by any art."*
Charlevoix at that early period visited Detroit
for the purpose of viewing the young colony, where
he recommended that an accession should be made
to the strength of the infant settlement from Montreal. This addition to their power was approved
of by the French, on the ground that it would secure them the fur-trade, then too much within
reach of the English of New-York. He also at.
tended, while here, a council of the chiefs of the
three villages near Detroit, where the question was
discussed whether it was proper to introduce brandy among the Indians, a practice which the Jesuits
finally succeeded in abolishing.  In alluding to
Detroit, he says, "It is pretended that this is the
* Charlevoix's Journal.




74           HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
finest part of all Canada; and really, if we can
judge by appearances, nature.seems to have denied it nothing which can contribute to make a
country delightful: hills, meadows, fields, lofty for.
ests, rivulets, fountains, rivers, and all of them so
excellent in their kind, and so happily blended as
to equal the most romantic wishes. The lands,
however, are not equally proper for every kind of
grain; but most are of a wonderful fertility, and I
have known some produce good wheat for eighteen
years running without any manure; and, besides,
all of them are proper for some particular use.
The islands seem placed on purpose for the pleasure of the prospect, the river and lake abound in
fish, the air is pure, and the climate temperate and
extremely wholesome."* t
* Charlevoix's Journal.
t These travellers were not, nor could they be expected to be
in all cases accurate, from their rapid passage through the
Western territory; but in their accounts of their own experience we derive much valuable information of its actual condition during the time when they wrote. Glimpses of wild beasts
which they had never before seen, vegetable productions whose
names they did not know, fragments of facts collected from the
accounts of the Indians, always exaggerated and seldom authentic, passed in rapid succession before their minds, while they
journeyed onward in bewildered amazement, through rivers,
lakes, forests, and Indian camps; and their impressions, thus
coloured and distorted, found their way into their books. But,
taken as a whole, their accounts are as accurate as could be ex
pected, considering the circumstances under which they wrote.




CHARLEVOIX AT DETROIT.             75
The Jesuit being requested by Tonti to visit the
great council at Detroit, consented to do so on the
day of his arrival; and his account of that council is here transcribed
" On the 7th of June, which was the day of my
arrival at the fort (Detroit), Mons. de Tonti, who
commands here, assembled the chiefs of the three
villages I have just mentioned, in order to communicate to them the orders he had received from the
Marquis de Vaudreuil.    They heard him   calmly
and without interruption.   When he had done
speaking, the orator of the Hurons told him in a
few words that they were going to consult about
what he had proposed to them, and would give him
their answer in a short time. It is the custom of
the Indians not to give an immediate answer on
an affair of any importance. Two days afterward
they assembled at the commandant's, who was desirous I should be present at this council, together
If, for example, the zealous Marquette depicts "wingless
swans" as floating upon the Mississippi; if Hennepin describes
" wild goats" upon the shores of Lake Erie; if La Hontan discourses upon the "Long River," and Charlevoix alludes to the
" citrons" as growing upon the banks of the Detroit, we are disposed to attribute their inaccuracies less to intentional misrepresentation than to natural and obvious mistake. Accurate observation and minute care are required to establish with perfect
correctness the facts connected with any country, and he who
should look to early records for historical matter will find much
chaff to be winnowed from the genuine and golden wheat.




76         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
with the officers of the garrison. Sasteratfi, whom
the French call King of the Hurons, and who is,
in fact, hereditary chief of the Tionnontatez, who
are the true Hurons, was also present on this occasion; but as he is still a minor, he came only
for form's sake: his uncle, who governs in his
name, and who is called regent, spoke in quality
of orator of the nation. Now the honour of speaking in the name of the whole is generally given
to some Huron, when any of them happen to be of
the council. The first view of their assemblies
gives you no great idea of the body. Imagine to
yourself, madame, half a score of savages almost
stark naked, with their hair disposed in as many
different manners as there are persons in the assembly, and all of them equally ridiculous; some
with laced hats, all with pipes in their mouths,
and with the most unthinking faces. It is, besides, a rare thing to hear one utter so much as a
single word in a quarter of an hour, or to hear any
answer made even in monosyllables; not the least
mark of distinction, nor any respect paid to any
person whatsoever. We should, however, be apt
to change our opinions of them on hearing the result of their deliberations."*
This, as is described by Charlevoix, was the
general mode in which the Indian councils were
* Charlevoix's Journal.




THE INDIANS.              77
neld with the French upon the lakes when questions of importance were to be decided. It was
necessary to secure the concurrence of the savages in every measure of policy, so that these tribes
should co.operate with them in carrying it into
effect.




78          HISTORY OF MICHIGAN1.
CHAPTER III.
Colonial Emigrants.-Merchants.-Coureurs des Bois.-The
Peasantry. —French Soldiers.-Legal Administration.-Pol
Icy of the French Government.-Indian Mythology of the
Lakes.-Mode of Land Distribution.-Increase of Colonization.-The Fu'r-trade of the Lakes.-Canadian Boat-songs.
-La Hontan's:Account of the Fur-trade.
THE posts of the French upon the lakes, while
the Western territory was under their government,
exhibit a peculiar form of character, combined
with institutions no less singular. The few feeble
colonies that were scattered through this territory
had emigrated principally from Brittany and Normandy, provinces of France.      Working men,
drawn from   the more dense settlements around
Quebec and Montreal, the seats of the bishops,
the seigneurs, and the Jesuits, they were sent out
for the purpose of building up the posts, and of
protecting the fur-trade carried on through the
chain of the great lakes. Despatched for these
objects, they were expected to endure cheerfully
the hardships they would be called on to encounter
in their establishment. The population assembled
at these posts consisted of the military by which
they were garrisoned, Jesuits, priests, merchants,




COLONIAL EMIGRANTS.            79
traders, and peasants. But a small portion of this
population, however, was stationary. It was moved from place to place, as the interests of the
French government seemed to require.
The French commandants at these posts were
the most prominent individuals, and, with their garrisons, constituted a little monarchy within them.
selves. Their power was arbitrary, extending to
the right of doing whatever they might deem expedient for the welfare of the settlements, whether
in making laws or in punishing crimes. Under
this simple and imperfect form of government, the
oldest merchants residing at the several posts were
reverenced as the head men of their particular colony. Careful and frugal in their habits, without
much of what we should call rigid virtue, it was
their policy to exercise their influence among the
settlers with paternal mildness, that they might secure their obedience, to keep on good terms with
the Indians in order to retain their trade, and they
often fostered a large number of half-breed children around their posts, who were the offspring of
their licentiousness.
The Coureurs des Bois, or rangers of the woods,
were either French or half-breeds, a hardy race,
accustomed to labour and privation, and thoroughly conversant with the character and habits of the
* La Hontan's Voyages.




80         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
savage tribes from which they obtained their furs
and peltry. They could, with no less skill than
the Indians, ply the oar of the light canoe upon the
waters of the lakes, were equally dexterous in hunting and trapping, and, as they pointed their rifles
at the squirrel on the top of the tallest tree, they
could confidently say to their ball, like the ancient
warrior, "to the right eye."  These half-breeds
generally spoke the language both of their French
and Indian parents, and knew just enough of their
religion to be alike regardless of that of each.
Employed by the French companies as voyageurs
or guides, their forms, which were models of manly beauty, were developed to great strength by pro.
pelling the canoe along the lakes and rivers, and
by carrying heavy packs of merchandise for the
fur.trade across the portages, by means of leather
straps, suspended from their shoulders or resting
against their foreheads.  From having travelled
through numerous points of the wilderness, they
became familiar with the trails of the most remote
Indian tribes, and with the depth of the water in
every inlet and stream of the lakes, as well as with
every island, rock, and shoal.  Their ordinary
dress was a " moleton" or blanket-coat, a red cap,
a belt of cloth passed around the middle, and a
loose shirt.* Sometimes, in their voyages through
* Henry.




THE PEASANTRY.             81
the lakes, they wore a brown coat or cloak, with a
cape which could be drawn up from their shoul.
ders over their heads like a hood. At other times
they had on elkskin trowsers, the seams of which
were ornamented with fringes, a surtout of coarse
blue cloth reaching to the calf of the leg, a scarletcoloured worsted sash fastened about the waist, in
which was stuck a broad knife employed in dissecting the animals taken in hunting, and moccasins made of buckskin. Affable, gay, and active,
these men were employed by the French mer.
chants either as guides, canoemen, carriers, or traders, to advance into the wilderness and procure
their furs from the Indians, to transport them along
the lakes and streams, and lodge them in the several dep6ts or factories which were established in
connexion with the French forts.
The peasants, or that class of the lake settlers
who cultivated small patches of ground within the
narrow circle of their picket-fences, were few.
Their dress was peculiar, and even wild. They
wore surtouts of coarse blue cloth, fastened at the
middle with a red sash, a scarlet woollen cap containing a scalping-knife, and moccasins made of
deerskin.  Civilization and barbarism were here
strangely mingled. Groups of Indians from the
remotest shores of the lakes, wild in their garb,
would occasionally make their appearance at the




82         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
settlements with numerous canoes laden with beaver-skins, which they had brought down to these
places of deposite. Among them were intermixed
the French soldiers of the garrison, with their blue
coats turned up with white facings,* and the Jes.
uits, with their long gowns and black bands, from
which were suspended by silver chains the rosary and crucifix, who, with the priests, had their
stations around the forts, and ministered in the
chapels.
Agriculture was but little encouraged by the
policy of the fur-trade or the character of the
population. It was confined to a few patches of
Indian corn and wheat, which they rudely cultiva.
ted, with little knowledge of correct husbandry.
They ground their grain in windmills, which were
scattered along the banks of Detroit River and the
St. Clair lake.  The recreations of the French
colonists consisted in attending the religious services held in the rude chapels on the borders of
the wilderness, in adorning their altars with wild
flowers, in dancing to the sound of the violin at
each other's houses, in hunting the deer through
the oak-land openings, and in paddling their light
canoes across the clear and silent streams. The
women employed themselves in making coarse cotton and woollen cloths for the Indian trade. In
* Manuscript Journals from Detroit.




THE JESUITS.             83
their cottages were hung rude pictures of saints,
the Madonna and child, and the leaden crucifix
supplied the place of one of silver. Abundance of
game strayed in the woods, and the waters were
alive with fish.
As these immigrants were sent out by the
French government, they were provided by its direction, through the commissariat department, with
canvass for tents, hoes, axes, sickles, guns, so many
pounds of powder, and meat, with the stipulation
that these should be paid for when a certain quantity of land had been cleared.*
The Jesuits, who were the most active agents
in the exploration of these regions, were, as a class,
persons of highly.cultivated and intelligent minds,
and of polished manners. The narratives of their
wanderings through the wilderness throw a colouring of romance around the prairies, and forests,
and lakes, which amounts almost to a classic spir.
it; yet they have left upon the lake-shores but few
monuments either of their benevolence or their
enterprise. The success of the Jesuits among the
Indians was small compared with the extent of
their labours. By the savages these Catholic mis.
sionaries were regarded as medicine.men and jug,
glers, on whom the destiny of life and death de.
pended; and, although they were greatly feared,
* Manuscript Journals from Detroit.




84          HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
they.ucceeded in making but few converts to their
religious, faith, excepting young children, or Indians
just about to sink into their graves.
The Administration of the law around these
scattered"posts was founded on no compact and
settled system. The Coutume de Paris,* or custorn of Paris, was the law of Canada; but this
code, although it was received and practised upon
in the older and more populous settlements of
the lower pro"pce, was not adopted and enfor.
ced with any degree of uniformity or strictness
among the more distant colonists. The command.
ants of the posts had the principal cognizance of
the population around them, and exercised their
authority in a mild, though arbitrary manner. Indeed, such was the feudal character of this law, that
the French paid a willing and implicit obedience
to their commandants, who, being invested with unlimited power, were styled the " governors of the
posts." A perfect system of law can exist only
where there is sufficient intelligence to mark out
and determine the rule of right, and sufficient moral power to enforce it. A register was kept, in
which the character and circumstances of the colonists were recorded, and in which the Jesuit or
the commandant of the post might inspect the con.
dition of each one as upon a map. There was
* See the Coutume de Paris, in three volumes.




INDIAN MYTHOLOGY.            85
here no system of education like that which pre.
vailed in New-England; and all the knowledge
acquired by the children of the colonists was ob.
tained from the priests, and related to the tenets
of the Catholic Church.*
A singular form of character was also thrown
around the territory by the mythology of the savages. The Indians had not only their good Manitos, but their evil spirits; and the wild features
of the lake scenery appears to have impressed
their savage minds with superstition. They believed that all the prominent points of this wide
region were created and guarded by monsters;
and the images of these they sculptured on stone,
painted upon the rocks, or carved upon the trees.
Those who obeyed these supernatural beings, they
thought, would after death range among flowery
fields filled with the choicest game, while those
who neglected their counsels would wander amid
dreary solitudes, stung by "gnats as large as pigeons."t
The plan of distributing the land was calculated
to prevent the settlement of the country. A law
was passed requiring the houses of the inhabitants
to be placed upon ground with a front of only one
acre and a half, and running forty acres back.:
* Manuscript Journals.    t Henry.: See Appendix A, B.




86         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
This kept the settlements in a close line along the
banks of the streams. A feudal and aristocratic
spirit also controlled the grants of land.  The
commandan4s of the forts had the power to convey
lands, with the permission of the governor-general
of Canada, subject to the confirmation of the King
of France, the right of shooting hares, rabbits,
and partridges being reserved to the grantor.
The grantee was bound to clear and improve the
land within three years from the date of his deed.
The timber that might be necessary for the con.
struction of fortifications or vessels was reserved;
and no person was permitted to work upon his
land at the trade of a blacksmith, gunsmith, ar.
morer, or brewer, but on pain of forfeiture. He
was forbidden the trafficking in spirituous liquors
with the Indians; and, what was the most singular
requisition of all, he was bound to plant or assist
in planting a long Maypole at the door of the principal manor on the first of May in each year.
Such were the feudal features of this system,
equally opposed to the increase of the settlements,
to freedom, and independence.  How striking is
the contrast between this system and the policy of
our American laws now acting on the soil, which,
by furnishing land cheap, offer every encourage.
ment to agriculture, and thus freely open the treas.
ures of the earth to the labours of our hardy and
enterprising citizens.




THE FRENCH FUR-TRADE.          87
As early as 1749, the post of Detroit and the
others upon the Northwestern lakes, Michilimackinac, Ste. Marie, and St. Joseph, received an accession of immigrants. The last two were called after the saints of those names in the Catholic calen.
dar. Michilimackinac derives its name from the
Indian words Michi-mackinac, meaning a great
turtle, from its supposed resemblance to that an.
imal, or from the Chippewa words Michine-maukinonk, signifying the place of giant fairies, who
were supposed by Indian superstition to hover over
the waters around that beautiful island.* The
origin of the name of Detroit is the French word
Detroit, signifying a strait, because the post was
situated on the strait connecting Lake Erie with
Lake St. Clair.
During the whole period of the French domrination, extending from  the first settlement of the
country down to the year 1760, the traffic of
Michigan was confined principally to the trade in
furs. This interesting traffic upon the great lakes
was carried on by the French under peculiar circumstances. As the forests of the lake region
abounded with furs which were of great value in
the mother-country, it became an important object
with the Canadian government to prosecute that
trade with all the energy in its power. The rich
* Schoolcraft's Algic Researches.
G




88         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
furs of the beaver and otter were particularly
valuable, from the great demand for them in Eu.
rope. Large canoes made of bark, and strongly
constructed, were despatched annually to the lakes,
laden with packs of European merchandise, con.
sisting of blankets, printed calicoes, ribands, cut.
lery, and trinkets of various kinds, which the Indians used, and De.roit, Michilimackinac, and Ste.
Marie were their principal places of deposite.
To secure the interests of the large companies,
licenses for this trade were granted by the governor.general of Canada to the merchants, who
sometimes sold them to the coureurs des bois.
The possessor of one of these licenses was enti.
tied to load two large canoes, each of which was
manned by six men. The cargo of one of these
canoes was valued at about a thousand crowns.
This merchandise was sold to the traders on a
credit, and at about fifteen per cent. advance on
the price it would command in ready money.
But the voyages were very profitable, and there
was generally a gain of about one hundred per
cent. on the sum invested in the enterprise. The
traders endured most of the fatigue, and the merchants received most of the profit. On the return
of one of these expeditions, six hundred crowns
were taken by the merchant for his license; and
as he had sold the thousand crowns' worth of goods




THE COUREURS DES BOIS.          89
at their prime cost, from this sum he also deducted
forty per cent. for bottomry; the remainder was
then divided among the six coureurs des bois, who
were thus left with but a small compensation for
all their perils and hardship.*
The coureurs des bois were the active agents of
the fur-trade.  Thoroughly acquainted with the
navigation of the lakes, they fearlessly swept along
the waters of these inland seas, encamping at night
upon its shores. Of mixed white and Indian blood,
they formed the connecting link between civilization and barbarism. Their dress was also demisavage.  Lively and sanguine, they were at all
times ready to join the Indians in the dance, or
pay respect to their ceremonies. Their French
fathers had familiarly associated with the native
tribes, and their mothers and wives were the in.
mates of Indian camps. In many respects their
character resembled that of mariners upon the
ocean, for the same general causes might be said
to operate upon both. Instead of navigating the
high seas in ships tossed by storms, and ploughing
the waves from port to port, it was their lot to
propel their light canoes over the fresh.water seas
of the forest; where, hurried from one Indian village to another, like the mariner on the ocean,
* La Hontan's Voyages.




90         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
they acquired all those habits which belong to an
unsettled and wandering life.
Advancing to the remote shores of Lake Superior or Lake Michigan, and following the courses
of the rivers which flow into them, as soon as they
reached the points where the Indians were in the
habit of resorting, they at once encamped. Here
they opened their packages of goods, exhibited
them to their savage customers, and exchanged
them for furs; and, having disposed of all their
merchandise, and loaded their canoes with the pel.
tries it had procured, they bade adieu to their Indian friends, and started on their voyage back,
with feathers stuck in their hats, keeping time with
their paddles to the Canadian boat-song.*
La Hontan, in his Journal, which was published
in France, and a translation of which was after.
ward published in this country, gives an interesting
account of the fur.trade, showing the general
course of that traffic while the Canadas were under the French. The author resided at Montreal.
At this time (1688) Michilimackinac was the principal stopping-place for the traders on their way
from Montreal or Detroit to the forests bordering
on Lake Superior. Here their goods were deposited, and here the furs were collected for their re.
turn freight.  Sometimes, however, the traders,
* Tales of the Northwest.




LA IHONTAN DESCRIBES THE FUR-TRADE. 91
accompanied by numerous canoes of the Ottawas,
would proceed directly to the older settlements on
the St. Lawrence, where they supposed they might
be able to dispose of their cargoes to greater advantage than at the interior posts.
The following is La Hontan's account of the
fur.trade at the period referred to:
" Much about the same day," says he, "there
arrived twenty-five or thirty canoes, being homeward bound from the great lakes, and laden with
beaver-skins. The cargo of each canoe amounted
to forty packs, each of which weighs fifty pounds,
and will fetch fifty crowns at the farmer's office.
These canoes were followed by fifty more of the
Ottawas and Hurons, who come down every year
to the colony in order to make a better market
than they can do in their own country of Michilimackinac, which lies on the banks of the Lake of
Hurons, at the mouth of the Lake of Illinese (Michigan). Their way of trading is as follows:
" Upon their arrival they encamp at the distance
of five or six hundred paces from the town. The
first day is spent in ranging their canoes, unloading their goods, and pitching their tents, which are
made of birch bark. The next day they demand
audience of the governor-general, which is granted them that same day, in a public place.
" Upon this occasion each nation makes a ring




92          HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
for itself. The savages sit upon the ground with
pipes in their mouths, and the governor is seated
in an arm-chair; after which there starts up an
orator or speaker from one of these nations, who
makes an harangue importing that his brethren
are come to visit the governor.general, to renew
with him their wonted friendship; that their chief
view is to promote the interest of the French,
some of whom, being unacquainted with the way of
traffic, and being too weak for the transporting of
goods from the lakes, would be unable to deal in
beaver-skins if his brethren did not come in per.
son to deal with them in their own colonies. That
they knew very well how acceptable their arrival
is to the inhabitants of Montreal, in regard of the
advantage they reap from it; that, in regard to the
beaver.skins, they were much valued in France,
and the French gopds given in exchange were of
an inconsiderable value; and that they mean to
give the French sufficient proof of their readiness
to furnish them with what they desire so ear.
nestly.
" That, by way of preparation for another year's
cargo, they are come to take in exchange fusees,
and powder and ball, in order to hunt great num.
bers of beavers, or to gall the Iroquese in case
they offered to disturb the French settlements;
and, in fine, in confirmation of their words, that




LA HONTAN DESCRIBES THE FUR-TRADE. 93
they throw a porcelain collar (belt of wampum),
with some beaver-skins, to the kitchi-okima (so
they call the governor-general), whose protection
they laid claim to in case of any robbery or abuse
committed upon them in the town. The spokesman having made an end of his speech, returns to
his place and takes up his pipe, and the interpreter
explains the substance of the harangue to the governor, who commonly gives a very civil answer,
especially if the presents be valuable, in consideration of which he likewise makes them a present
of some trifling things. This done, the savages
rise up and return to their huts, to make suitable
preparation for the ensuing truck.
"The next day the savages make their slaves
carry the skins to the houses of the merchants,
who bargain with them for such clothes as they
want. All the inhabitants of Montreal are allowed
to traffic with them in any commodity but rum and
brandy, these two being excepted upon the account
that when the savages have got what they want,
and have any skins left, they drink to excess, and
then kill their slaves; for when they are in drink
they quarrel and fight, and if they were not held
by those who are sober, would certainly make hav.
oc one of another. However, you must observe
that none of them will touch either gold or silver.
As soon as the savages )ave made an end of their




94          HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
truck, they take leave of the governor, and so re.
turn home by the River Ottawas. To conclude,
they do a great deal of good, both to the poor and
rich, for you will readily apprehend that everybody
turns merchant upon such occasions."*
To the question what was the condition of the
Northwest Territory when it was claimed and oc.
cupied by France, we can furnish a ready answer.
It was a vast ranging.ground for the numerous In.
dian tribes, who roamed over it in all the listless
indolence of their savage independence; of the
Jesuit missionaries, who, under the garb of their
religious orders, strove to gain the influence of the
red men in behalf of their government as well as
their Church, by their conversion to the Catholic
faith; the theatre of the most important military
operations of the French soldiers at the West;
and the grand mart where the furs, which were
deemed the most valuable products of this region,
were collected for shipment to France, under a
commercial system which was originally projected
by the Cardinal de Richelieu.
The condition of a country, although often in
some measure modified by the nature of the cli.
mate and the soil, is more generally founded upon
the character of the people and that of its laws.
This is clearly exhibited in the case of the North.
* La Hontan's Voyages.




THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.         95
west; for while that domain was rich in all the
natural advantages that could be furnished by the
soil, it was entirely barren of all those moral and
intellectual fruits springing from bold and energetic character, directed by a free, enlightened, and
wholesome system of jurisprudence.
H




96          HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
CHAPTER IV.
Struggle between France and England for the Possession of
the Country.-The Iroquois and Algonquins.-British Troops
advance into Canada.-Battle of Quebec.-Death of Wolfe
and Montcalm. - British Detachment under Rogers takes
Possession of Michigan.-Rogers traverses Lake Erie.-Pontiac makes his first Appearance. —Bellestre.-Surrender of
Detroit.
WHILE the forests were thus reposing in the
silence of nature, broken only by the peaceful op.
erations of the fur-trade, more important events
were transpiring beyond their eastern boundary.
From the Atlantic to Quebec, France and England,
who seemed to have transferred their hereditary
hatred from the Old World to the New, had been
long struggling to obtain undivided dominion over
the northern portion of the latter. Backed by In.
dian allies, who leagued themselves with one or
the other, as they were influenced by caprice or
a desire to prostrate some hostile tribe, these two
great powers engaged in a desperate struggle for
supremacy. The whole of Canada, Illinois, and
the territory thence to the borders of the Missis.
sippi were then claimed by the French, while the
English occupied most of the country east of the
Alleghany Mountains.




THE INDIAN ALLIES.           97
Both nations found efficient auxiliaries among
the Indian tribes. On the side of the English were
the Iroquois, called by them the Six Nations.
These combined tribes formed the most powerful savage confederacy then existing on the Continent. It consisted of the Onondagas, the Cayu.
gas, the Senecas, the Oneidas, and the Mohawks,
and in 1712 the Tuscaroras of North Carolina
were received into the league. Their domain embraced a very extensive tract of country, and from
time to time it was enlarged by new conquests.
They were robust and muscular, and delighted
in ornamenting their persons with the finery so
highly prized by the Indians, such as medals,
ribands, the skins of wild beasts, and porcupine
quills dyed of various colours.  They possessed
great energy, decision, and perseverance, and, when
excited, were remarkable for the force and eloquence with which they spoke. Towards the west
they claimed supremacy over the country as far as
the Mississippi, and towards the northwest as far
as Hudson's Bay; in short, all that was not occupied by the Southern Indians, the Sioux, the Knisteneaux, and the Chippewas.* Their affairs were
conducted with more system than those of the more
western tribes.  Every year they held a grand
council, consisting of representatives from each
* Schoolcraft'V Discourse.




98         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
nation, at Onondaga, in the present state of NewYork. Their youth were taught to bend the bow
before their muscles were sufficiently strong to
propel the arrow to its mark, and to grapple with
the wild beasts of the forests as they would with
the French, or their enemies the Algonquins. The
cause of their attachment to the English is not
known; but it was probably in part caprice, and
partly a desire to overthrow the power of their
rivals who have been mentioned. When their naked and painted warriors appeared on the edge of
the forest, it was always a signal that mischief was
at hand. "We are born free: we neither depend
on Onondio nor Corlaer" (France nor England),
said Haaskouan to De la Barre in 1684, and the
course they pursued was the acting out of this declaration.
The Algonquins, on the other hand, were the al.
lies of the French. The territory of this nation
extended from Lake Erie along the whole chain
of the upper lakes to Lake Winnipeg and Hudson's Bay on the north, and to the mouth of the
Ohio River on the south. They were connected
with the tribes immediately east of the St. Law.
rence, and with those in the interior of New-England.* There were two powerful tribes, however,
which were nat connected with this league, the
* Ahpoclraft's Discourse




TrE INDIAN ALLIES.            99
Hurons and the Foxes. The Hurons were of Iro.
quois origin, but, from causes which are not known
they had severed from that confederacy, and taken
part with the French; while the Foxes, who were
of the Algonquin race, sided with the English.
The causes of the friendship entertained by the
Algonquins residing on the borders of the lakes
for the former are obvious. The French mingled familiarly with them, and endeavoured by all
possible means to secure their good.will.  The
traders visited their villages and took to them.
selves Indian wives.  The Jesuit missionaries
erected chapels in their camps, presented to them
sculptured images, styling them their patron saints,
held the crucifix before the dying, offered up their
devotions with them before the picture of the Virgin, and planted the cross upon their graves. The
French and Indians hunted together, lodged in the
same wigwam, and drank from the same cup. On
the contrary, the English were cold, distant, and
forbidding in their manners: how, then, could the
Algonquins be friendly to them, or how the ene.
mies of the French?
For a long time these savages had been sent out
into the neighbouring wilderness to attack the feeble settlements upon their borders, and to bring
back the scalps of their murdered victims. Many
a spot was wetted with the blood of its unfortu



100        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
nate inhabitants, and many a red column of British
regulars wavered before the rifles of the combined
French and Indians, covered by some swamp, o0
fighting from behind a breastwork of fallen trees
The forests were often lighted up by the conflagra
tion of burning villages, and the midnight solitude
was startled by the shrieks of females under the
tomahawk or scalping-knife, and mocked by hu.
man fiends, whose horrid thirst for blood was no
less insatiable than that of the wolves which howled about their camps.
It was at length determined by the British government to make a powerful effort to possess themselves of the French colonies. Both France and
England, it will be recollected, claimed these coun.
tries on the same grounds: that is, original discov.
ery, conquest, and appropriation.
In 1757 the Earl of Chatham projected a campaign of a very formidable character against the
French colonies, and the last great struggle soon
commenced. Twelve thousand British soldiers arrived in this country under the command of General Amherst;. and, at the same time, bodies of
rangers, trained to the mode of fighting peculiar to
the French and Indians, and also to the hardships
of the forest, or what was called the "woods service," were brought into the field under the command of a citizen of New-Hampshire, Major




WAR OF THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH. 101
Robert Rogers, to co.operate with the British regulars and the colonial troops.*
Numerous positions having been occupied along
the lake shores and the borders of the French col.
onies, in 1759 it was determined to bring the question to a speedy and decisive issue. It was proposed to divide the English army into three parts,
and to penetrate to the very heart of Canada in
three different directions, with a view to overthrow
the French power at a single blow. Brigadiergeneral Wolfe, a young and gallant officer, was
ordered to ascend the St. Lawrence and lay siege
to Quebec. The duty assigned to General Am.
herst was to seize on Ticonderoga and Crown
Point, and thence to proceed by the way of Lake
Champlain and the St. Lawrence River to Quebec,
to co-operate with General Wolfe in the siege of
that place. The third division of the army, under
the command of General Prideaux, was destined to
attack Niagara, and, after obtaining possession of
it, to be embarked on Lake Ontario, and proceed
against Montreal. If that city should surrender
before Quebec, General Prideaux was to unite his
forces with those of General Wolfe, under the
walls of the latter. General Amherst, after making
great exertions, was obliged to retire into winter.
quarters without accomplishing his object. Gen.
* Marshall.




102        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
eral Prideaux, as he had been directed, advanced
against Niagara, which was garrisoned by a body
of French troops from Detroit, Venango, and
Presque Isle, and succeeded in capturing that
post.*
The most difficult and important branch of the
attack had been intrusted to Wolfe. The English fleet, having on board eight thousand men, under the command of this general, soon reached the
Island of Orleans, opposite to Quebec, in the St.
Lawrence River. The French force amounted to
nine thousand men. The English were led on by
a young officer, whose war-cry, like that of Nel.
son at a later period, was " Victory or Westminster Abbey."  The first attack made by him was
upon Montmorenci, where his troops were landed
under cover of a fire from the ships.of-war. Here
at last, then, on the broad St. Lawrence, were unfurled the hostile banners of these great rival nations. The glory of the two crowns was at stake.
The cross of England glowed brightly upon its
crimson ground, amid martial music, and floating
above thousands of muskets glittering in the beams
of the morning sun. Nor was the French force
wanting in the gallantry which distinguished their
opponents. The lilies embroidered upon the folds
of their flag were borne aloft in triumph above
* Marshall.




BATTLE OF QUEBEC.           103
hearts as brave as ever beat in human bosoms.
Tribes of savages were seen armed and paint.
ed for the struggle which was to decide the destinies of these mighty rivals.  The French force,
was commanded by a gallant and chivalrous officer, the Marquis de Montcalm. Before them lay
the great river of Canada; beside them were the
walls of Quebec, the stronghold of their power;
and at a distance were seen the Falls of Montmorenci, glittering like a sheet of molten silver as they
tumbled from the cliffs.
The effective force under Montcalm consisted
of about ten thousand men, and his position was
defended by floating batteries and armed vessels.
Wolfe, by way of stratagem, sailed nine miles up
the river, in order to distract the attention of the
French army; when the French commander de.
tached M. Bougainville with a strong force to that
point, to prevent the English from landing. But
about midnight the boats of the British ships floated
silently down the St. Lawrence, and, being hailed
by the French sentinels who were stationed on its
banks with the cry of " Who comes there?" the
English, who knew their watchword, replied " La
France," and were suffered to proceed unmolested
to their point of debarcation.*
At about four o'clock in the morning the British
* Smollet.




104        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
troops began to land, not having been discovered
in their progress down the river. Soon after they
commenced ascending the precipitous declivity
which leads to the Heights of Abraham. They
were protected by two fieldpieces, and their front
was covered by the Royal Americans, a corps
raised in New-York and New-England, as also by
a reserve of one regiment, and the light infantry.
They soon gained the heights and prepared for
battle. The Marquis de Montcalm, the moment
he discovered the English troops in possession of
these important heights, sallied from Beauport
with only a single fieldpiece. The two hostile armies soon met. The Canadian marksmen and In.
dian allies, no less expert with the rifle, were detached by the French commander to conceal themselves among the bushes and cornfields, from which
they could most effectually annoy the enemy.
The French troops advanced with great firmness,
although composed for the most part of raw and
undisciplined militia. As soon as they had reached
within about two hundred yards of the British line,
they commenced a sharp but irregular fire, supported by the Indians and the Canadian marksmen,
who with their rifles did great execution.  But
they were met by that unshaken courage and obstinate determination which are characteristic of
British soldiers; and the Scotch Highlanders, with




BATTLE OF QUEBEC.          105
their broadswords, making terrible havoc in their
ranks, the French columns began to waver. General Wolfe, in the commencement of the action,
received a bullet in his wrist while gallantly leading his men to the charge; but, winding a handkerchief about the wound, he continued to fight on
as though nothing had occurred. A second ball
soon after struck him in the breast, and he fell.
While leaning his head on the shoulder of one of
his officers, he was startled from the lethargy of
death by shouts from his ranks: " They fly! they
fly!"  "Who fly?" he faintly inquired.  "The
French," was the reply. " Then," said he, "I die
happy;" and his spirit departed amid the thunders
of the battle. The Marquis de Montcalm, the commander of the French army, was also mortal\y
wounded, and died a few days after the engagement. Monuments have been erected to these two
heroes in the city of Quebec. The remains of the
French army, retiring to Montreal, demanded a
capitulation, which was granted. Accordingly, in
November, 1760, articles of agreement were entered into between General Amherst and the Marquis de Vaudreuil, by which the latter surrendered
to the crown of England Detroit, Michilimackinac,
and all the posts within the government of Canada
that were in possession of the French.
A few days after the signing of this capitulation,




106         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Major Rogers was detached by General Amherst,
at the head of a competent force, to take possession of the distant posts on the frontier, to administer to the French inhabitants there the oath of
allegiance, and effectually to establish the power
of England in place of that of France. He was
ordered to embark his troops in boats on Lake
Erie, stopping on his way at Presque Isle, to make
known to the officer of that post the instructions
he had received. He was also the bearer of de.
spatches to Brigadier-general Monkton, which he
was to deliver, and receive from that officer his
final orders as to the manner in which he should
proceed to take possession of Detroit, Michilimack.
inac, and the other French posts. Having accomplished the objects of the expedition, he was to return in compliance with the orders that might be
given him by General Monkton, transport his boats
across the portage of Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario, where they were to be delivered into the
hands of his commanding officer, and thence he
was to march his detachment by land to Albany.*
In obedience to these instructions, Major Rogers
embarked the force assigned him in fifteen whale.
boats at MontreaL On arriving at Fort Frontenac he met with a party of Indians who were out
upon a hunting excursion, and communicated to
Rogers's Journal.




ROGERS S EXPEDITION.         107
them the first news of the capitulation.  They
found these savages friendly, and were supplied by
them with wild-fowl and venison. Soon after they
fell in with another body of about fifty Indians, on
a stream which flows into Lake Ontario, where
they were taking salmon. They all appeared to
be gratified with the intelligence that the French
had surrendered the country. After arriving at
Toronto, the detachment were not long in reaching Niagara, where they provided themselves with
moccasins, blankets, and such other articles as
were necessary for the expedition. Proceeding on
their way to Detroit, they soon reached Presque
Isle, from which point Rogers embarked in a canoe, and proceeded to the old site of Fort Du_
quesne, now called Pittsburgh.  Here he found
Brigadier-general Monkton, and delivered to him
the despatches he had brought from General Amherst. A detachment of Royal Americans, or co.
lonial troops, under Capt. Campbell, were marched
from this post for the purpose of aiding him in so
hazardous an expedition. At the same time, an
officer was ordered to drive forty fat cattle from
Presque Isle to Detroit, where it was supposed they
would be wanted by the troops. Captain Wait
was also sent back to Niagara for provisions, and
directed on his return to coast along the northern
shore of Lake Erie, and encamp about twenty




108         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
miles east of Detroit. Thus started the first English military expedition that had ever ventured
upon the western shore of Lake Erie, for the pur.
pose of wresting from the French their possessions
in these distant regions.*
At this time appeared Pontiac, a chief who was
destined to figure largely in the history of this
territory at a subsequent period. His residence
was Pechee Island, which looks out upon the waters of Lake St. Clair, about eight miles above the
city of Detroit. An Ottawa by birth, and belong.
ing to a tribe which claimed to be the oldest in
this quarter, he was greatly esteemed both by the
English and French. Thus his influence was
greater than that of any other individual among
the lake tribes.  His personal qualities, indeed,
were such as to ensure respect; and he possessed,
moreover, hereditary claims to authority, according to the customs of the Indians. His form was
cast in the finest mould of savage grace and
strength, and his eye seemed capable of penetra.
ting at a glance the secret motives which actuated
the tribes around him. Such was Pontiac, the daring chief who was about to dispute the English
claims to the territory of the lakes. He could not
endure the sight of this people driving the game
from his hunting-grounds, and his old friends and
* Rogers's Journal.




PONTIAC APPEARS.            109
allies, the French, from the lands they had so long
possessed. Accordingly, when he was apprized
that an English detachment was advancing along
the lakes to take possession of the country, he
could not restrain his indignation. Forthwith he
despatched a body of Ottawas from Detroit, with
a message to the English, who were then encamped at the mouth of Chocage River, informing them
that Pontiac, the king of the country where they
were, was approaching, and requesting them to stop
until he should arrive. Pontiac, on reaching the
English camp, demanded of Rogers the business
on which he had come, and how he dared to enter
his country without his permission. Major Rogers
replied that he had no design against the Indians,
and that his only object was the removal of the
French, who had hitherto been the means of pre.
venting all friendly relations between his tribes
and the English. Pontiac then gave him to understand that he should stand in his path until the
morning, and at the same time presented him with
a small string of wampum, signifying that he for.
bade the English detachment from advancing any
farther without his permission. He also told Ma.
jor Rogers that if he was in want of any food, he
would send his warriors, and they should procure
it for him.*' Rogers's Journal.




110        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
A council having in the mean time been held,
Pontiac made his appearance in the English camp
the next morning, saying that he had the most
friendly disposition towards the English, and he
smoked the pipe of peace with their commander.
At the same time, he informed Rogers that he
would protect him against a party of Indians who
had stationed themselves at the mouth of the Detroit River, and he sent also several of his warriors
to assist Captain Brewer in bringing on the cattle
which he was driving to Detroit. In addition to
this, he despatched messengers to the Indians en.
camped on the Detroit River, and to those on the
north and west shores of Lake Erie, to inform
them that he had given the English permission to
pass through his territory; and, still farther to
evince his friendship, he supplied them with veni.
son, wild turkeys, and several bags of parched
corn.*
Encamping at some distance from the mouth of
the Detroit River, Rogers despatched the following
letter to M. Bellestre, the French commandant at
Detroit:
-" To Captain Bellestre, or the Officer commanding at
Detroit.
SIR:-That you may not be alarmed at the ap.
* Rogers's Journal.




LETTER TO BELLESTRE.         1 1
proach of the English troops under my command
when I come to Detroit, I send forward this by Lieut.
Brheme, to acquaint you that I have General Am.
herst's orders to take possession of Detroit and
such other posts as are in that district, which, by
capitulation agreed to and signed by Marquis de
Vaudreuil and General Amherst, the 8th of Sep.
tember last, now belong to Great Britain. I have
with me the Marquis de Vaudreuil's letters to you,
directed for your guidance on this occasion, which
letters I shall deliver you when I am at or near
your post, and shall encamp the troops I have with
me at some distance from the fort, till you have
reasonable time to be made acquainted with the
Marquis de Vaudreuil's instructions and the capit.
ulation, a copy of which I have with me likewise.
I am, sir, your humble servant,
" ROBERT ROGERS."
After this he encamped with his detachment on
a stream which empties into Lake Erie. Here he
found a number of Huron chiefs, who inquired of
him whether the reports which they had heard in
regard to the surrender of the territory were true;
apprizing him, at the same time, that they had
been sent out by M. Bellestre for the purpose of
defending the country, and to obtain information
as to the events which had transpired below.
I




112        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Rogers confirmed the fact of the capitulation, and
made a speech to the Hurons of the most conciliatory character; after which he encamped at the
west end of Lake Erie with his detachment. The
next day he met with a party of Indians, who told
him that Bellestre was "a strong man," and that
he intended to fight the English. Not long after,
sixty Indians, who said that they had come from
Detroit the previous day, arrived at his camp.
They offered to conduct the English detachment
to that place, and informed Rogers that M. Brheme,
who had been sent by him with the letter, had been
imprisoned by the French commandant.*
While the English were thus advancing towards
Detroit, the French commandant was not idle. He
had collected round his post numerous tribes of
savages, and, knowing that they were strongly irmpressed by symbols, he had caused a pole to be
erected, with the image of a man's head on the
top, and upon this was placed a crow. He told
the Indians that the head represented the English,
and the crow himself, and that the meaning of it
all was, that the French would scratch out the
brains of their enemies. The Indians, however,
would not believe it, and expressed their applehen.
sions that the reverse would be the fact, and that
the English at Detroit would scratch out the brains
of the French.
* Rogers's Journal.




ORRESPONDENCE WITH THE FRENCH. 113
About this time Rogers received the following
letter from the commandant of Detroit:
"SIR:-I received the letter you wrote me by
one of your officers, but, as I have no interpreter,
cannot fully answer it. The officer that delivered
me yours gives me to understand that he was sent
to give me notice of your arrival to take possession
of this garrison, according to the capitulation made
in Canada; that you have likewise a letter from
Monsieur Vaudreuil directed to me. I beg, sir,
you will halt your troops at the entrance of the
river till you send me the capitulation and the
Marquis de Vaudreuil's letter, that I may act in
conformity thereto.
" I have the honour to be, &c., &c.,
" DE BELLESTRE."
Shortly after, on the 25th of November, the
English commander received the letter inserted
below from M. Bellestre:
" DETROIT, 25th Nov., 1760.
SIR: — I have already, by Mr. Barrager, acquainted you with the reasons why I could not
answer particularly the letter which was delivered
me the 22d instant by the officer you sent to me.
I am entirely unacquainted with the reasons of
his not returning to you. I sent my Huron inter.




114        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
preter to that nation, and told him to stop them
should they be on the road, not knowing positively
whether they were inclined to favour you or us;
and to tell them from me they should behave
peaceably; that I knew what I owed to my general, and that, when the capitulation should be settled, I was obliged to obey. The said interpreter
has orders to wait on you and deliver you this.
" Be not surprised, sir, if along the coast you find
the inhabitants upon their guard. It was told them
you had several Indian nations with you, to whom
you had promised permission to plunder; nay, that
they were even resolved to force you to it. I have
therefore allowed the said inhabitants to take to
their arms, as it is for your safety and preservation as well as ours; for, should those Indians be.
come insolent, you may not, perhaps, in your pres.
ent situation, be able to subdue them alone.
" I flatter myself, sir, that, as soon as this shall
come to hand, you will send me, by some of the
gentlemen you have with you, both the capitula.
tion and Monsieur de Vaudreuil's letter
"I have the honour to be, sir,
"Your very humble and obedient servant,
"DE BELLESTRE."
After advancing five miles farther up the Detroit River, Rogers the next day sent a second let



CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE FRENCH. 115
ter, of which the following is a copy, by Captain
Campbell:
"SIR:-I acknowledge the receipt of your two let.
ters, both of which were delivered to me yesterday.
Mr. Brheme has not yet returned. The enclosed
letter from the Marquis de Vaudreuil will inform
you of the surrender of all Canada to the King of
Great Britain, and of the great indulgence granted
to the inhabitants, as also of the terms granted to
the troops of his most Christian majesty. Capt.
Campbell, whom I have sent forward with this let.
ter, will show you the capitulation. I desire you
will not detain him, as I am determined, agreeable
to my instructions from General Amherst, speedily
to relieve your post.  I shall stop the troops I
have with me at the hither end of the town till
four o'clock, by which time I expect your answer.
Your inhabitants will not surprise me: as yet, I
have seen no other in that position but savages
waiting for my orders. I can assure you, sir, the
inhabitants of Detroit shall not be molested, they
and you complying with the capitulation, but be
protected in the quiet and peaceable enjoyment of
their estates; neither shall they be pillaged by my
Indians, nor by yours that have joined me.
"I am, &c.,            ROBERT ROGERS
"To Captain Bellestre, 1
Commanding at Detroit."




116        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
After despatching this letter he pushed his boats
up the Detroit River to within half a mile of the
fort, and encamped his detachment in a field.
The English camp was soon visited by Captain
Campbell and a French officer, who presented to
Major Rogers M. Bellestre's compliments, stating
that he was instructed by that officer to inform
him that the post had been surrendered. Lieutenant Lefflie and M'Cormick were then sent
with thirty.six Royal Americans, who immediately
took possession of the fort; when the Indians, to
the number of seven hundred, who had been col.
lected there by the French commander, set up a
tremendous yell, exulting that their prophecy concerning the crow had been verified.
Major Rogers now formally took possession of
this important post, receiving at the same time a
plan of the fort, and a list of the warlike and other
stores. The French commandant and the troops
forming the garrison were placed under the charge
of Lieutenant Holmes, with thirty Rangers, to be
conducted to Philadelphia. Twenty men were also
sent to escort the French soldiers from the posts
of Miami and Gatanois, and the command of the
fort was given to Captain Campbell.  Rogers,
having made a treaty with the neighbouring Indians, set out with a party to Lake Huron for the
purpose of taking possession of Michilimackinac;




SURRENDER OF DEltOIT.         117
but the ice in the lake so obstructed his passage
that he could not proceed by water, and the Indians told him that it would be impossible for him
to reach that place by land without snow-shoes.
Accordingly, having replaced the ammunition and
stores which he had taken with him at Detroit,
he left that post on the 21st of November, 1760,
after intrusting to Captain Campbell its command.
With the change of jurisdiction thus effected, a new
scene will now open upon us.*
* Rogers's Journal.




118         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
CHAPTER V.
Condition of the Territory under the English.-Pontiac forms a
Confederacy to attack the English Posts.-War breaks out.
-Siege of Detroit. —Battle of Bloody Bridge.-Indians assemble around Michilimackinac. - Minavavana-Alexander
Henry-Wawatam.- Michilimackinac destroyed.-General
Bradstreet arrives.-Peace concluded.-Death of Pontiac.
No material change took place in the condition
of the country in consequence of its surrender to
the English. The capitulation of Montreal per
mitted the French emigrants to remain in the territory, and to enjoy undisturbed their civil and re.
ligious rights. Agriculture was no more encour.
aged than before, and the same general plan continued to be pursued in conducting the fur-trade.
No land was allowed to be purchased directly of
the Indians, nor were the English commandants,
styled governors, permitted to make any grants of
land except within certain prescribed limits. The
settlements of the French, however, continued to
extend, and their long, narrow farms, surrounded
by pickets, and fronted by houses of bark or logs,
and their roofs thatched with straw, were seen
stretching along the banks of all the principal
streams. There were as yet no schools, and the




INDIAN SUBTLETY.           119
instruction of the children continued to be confided
entirely to the Catholic priests.* Before that time
peltries had constituted almost the only medium of
traffic, but now English coin began to be introduced. Horses were for a long time unknown at
Detroit, the first having been brought there, it is
said, from Fort Duquesne, after Braddock's defeat.t
Although the English had acquired possession
of the country, it had been against the will of the
Indians. The design of Pontiac probably was to
lead the English into his territory only that he
might have a better opportunity to destroy them.
He believed that it was their intention to drive him
from his lands, and he therefore considered them
as dangerous intruders. His spacious domain, its
waters abounding with fish and its woods with
game, had now fallen into the hands of a people
whom he had always looked upon as his enemy.
Some of the Indians had been struck by the British officers in the garrison, an indignity which their
savage natures could not endure, and they readily
joined with their chief to expel these hated stran.
gers from their country.
Pontiac was not long in circulating war-belts
among all the principal tribes on the borders of the
lakes, and he formed a chain of operations extend* Manuscript Journals from Detroit.
t See Manuscript Journals.




120        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
ing more than a thousand miles along their waters.
He flattered himself that, if the British garrisons
could be destroyed or driven away, he should afterward be able effectually to defend the country against
farther intrusion by means of his own strength,
combined with that of his savage allies. A grand
council of the Indians was accordingly soon assembled at the River Aux Ecorce, and Pontiac addressed them in person. He told them that it was
the design of the English to drive the Indians from
their country, and that they were their natural and
inveterate enemies. He also assured them that
the Great Spirit had appeared to a Delaware Indian in a dream, and thus addressed him: "Why
do you suffer these dogs in red clothing" (the Eng.
lish) "to enter your country and take the land I
gave you? Drive them from it; and then, when
you are in distress, I will help you." He also exhibited to them a war-belt, which he said the French
king had sent over from France, ordering them to
drive out the British, and make way for the return
of the French.*
The shores of the lakes were soon alive with
bodies of Indian warriors, who had abandoned their
hunting-grounds and camps, and were repairing to
the posts on the frontier. Among these were seen
the Ottawas, the Chippewas, the Miamis, the Pot.
* Cass.




PONTIAC ATTACKS DETROIT.       121
tawatamies, the Missisagas, the Shawanese, the Ottagamies, and the Winnebagoes, besides parties
from numerous other tribes. At about the same
time they attacked the Forts of Le Bceuf, Venango, Presque Isle, Michilimackinac, St. Joseph, Miami, Green Bay, Ouiatonon, Pittsburgh, and San.
dusky. Their military operations, indeed, extended along the entire line of the waters of the lower
lakes.*
This general and simultaneous attack was maae
in the month of May, 1763, and was so sudden and
wholly unexpected that the garrisons were all taken by surprise. Detroit was then the most important station upon the lakes, and was garrisoned
by one hundred and twenty-two men and eight officers, Major Gladwin being the commandant.
Three rows of pickets surrounded the fort in the
form of a square. Most of the houses of the French
were situated within these pickets, that they might
be protected by the guns of the fort. The inhabitants were provided with arms and ammunition
Within the pickets there was also a circular space,
which was named by the French Le chemin du
Ronde, from its being a place of deposite for arms;
and over the gates of the fort, and at each of its
corners, there were small dwellings. The town
was defended in front by an armed schooner named
* See Cass,




122        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
the Beaver, moored in the river, which at this point
is about three quarters of a mile wide. The post
commanded the great channel of communication
from Lake Michigan to Buffalo and Pittsburgh;
its possession, therefore, was an object of great importance; and Pontiac, who was the chief director
of the confederacy, undertook its reduction in person.*
His plan was one which strikingly exhibits the
cunning which is so characteristic of the Indians.
Ile intended to take the fort by surprise; and for
this purpose he ordered a party of his warriors to
saw off their rifles so short that they could conceal
them under their blankets, and under a feigned
pretence to gain admission into the fort, and mas.
sacre the garrison. To carry out his design, he
encamped at a short distance from the post, and
sent word to the commandant that he was desirous
of holding a council with him, that " they might
brighten the chain of peace." On the evening of
that day, an Indian woman, by the name of Catharine, brought to Major Gladwin a pair of moccasins which she had been employed to make for
him, and he was so much pleased with them that
he gave her an elk-skin, and told her to take it
home and make from it several pairs more. She
took the skin, but continued to linger about the gate
* Cass.




SIEGE OF DETROIT.          123
of the fort as if her business were unfinished; ano
the singularity of her conduct attracted attention.
Major Gladwin accordingly ordered her to be called back, and inquired of her why she did not hasten home, that she might finish the moccasins
by the time he had required them to be done.
The woman remarked that she did not like to take
the skin away, as he seemed to prize it so much,
since she feared " she could never bring it back."
Her mind seemed to be struggling with some se.
cret, and, after being pressed, she developed the
whole plot. Major Gladwin immediately ordered
the guards to be doubled, and sentinels to be sta.
tioned on the ramparts.
As night approached, fires were seen in the In.
dian camp, and their war-songs were distinctly
heard, so that the English commandant was con.
vinced that something important was contemplated
by them, and that the woman had told the truth,
as the savages always excite themselves in this
manner preparatory to any great enterprise they
are about to undertake.
The next morning, according to previous arrangement, Pontiac and his warriors repaired to
the fort. As he was advancing, he noticed that
there was an unusual number of soldiers upon the
ramparts, and that the officers all had pistols in
their belts. Having entered the council.house, or




124        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
the place assigned for the meeting, he opened the
discussion with a speech, in which he made great
professions of friendship for the English. As the
time approached when, as the woman had stated,
the belt was to be delivered, and a fire upon the
garrison commenced, his gestures became more
vehement. At this moment the governor and his
officers drew their swords, and the English soldiers made a clattering upon the ground with their
muskets: Pontiac himself was now the party surprised, but he continued perfectly calm and unmoved.
The commandant soon commenced his reply,
but, instead of thanking the chief for his professions of friendship, he charged him with being a
traitor, and, to convince him of his knowledge of
the plot, he stepped forward to the Indian who sat
on his skin nearest to him, and, opening his blanket, exposed the shortened rifle.  At the same
time, addressing himself to the warriors, he told
them instantly to leave the fort, as his men, should
they discover their treachery, would show them no
mercy. He also assured them that they would be
permitted to go out in safety, as he had promised
them his protection.*
The warriors accordingly sallied out of the fort;
but, as soon as they had passed the gates, they
* Cass.




SIEGE OF DETROIT.          125
turned about and fired upon the garrison. They
then proceeded to the commons, where they murdered an English woman who resided there, and,
horrid to relate, cooked and feasted upon her remains. After this they went to Isle de Cochon
(Hog Island), and barbarously destroyed a whole
family.
The savages had now sufficiently evinced their
hostile intentions. Collecting around the fort, they
fired upon the garrison from the nearest houses,
and even from behind the pickets. Measures were
soon taken, however, to burn such buildings as they
could avail themselves of for this purpose, by throw.
ing shells. But, as soon as the shells fell, the savages ran up to them, with loud yells, and extinguish.
ed the matches before they had time -to explode.
Still, in spite of all their efforts to prevent it, the
buildings were soon demolished, and the Indians
then withdrew to a low ridge which overlooked the
pickets, and from this they kept up a constant fire
upon the fort.*
Although Pontiac, as the acknowledged head of
the confederacy, was the leader in the attack upon
Detroit, he was aided by several chiefs, who had
placed themselves under his direction. Among
these were the Ottawa chiefs Mahigam, or the
Wolf, Wabunemay, or the White Sturgeon, Kitta* Cass.




126        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
comsi, and Agouchiois; and the Chippewa chiefs
Pashquois, Gayashque, Wasson, and Macatay.wasson.
The influence of Pontiac had for a long time
been very great, not only with the French, but also
with the remotest tribes upon the borders of the
lakes. In 1746 he defended Detroit against a
combined force under Mackinac, the Turtle, aided
by a portion of his own tribe, the Ottawas. While
he was thus assisting the French, they were no less
warm in their attachment to their allies. " When
the French arrived at these falls" (the Sault de Ste.
Marie), said a Chippewa chief, "they came and
kissed us. They called us children, and we found
them fathers. We lived like brethren in the same
lodge. They never mocked our ceremonies; they
never molested the places of our dead. Seven gen.
erations have passed away, but we have not forgotten it. Just, very just, were they towards us."
The siege of Detroit by Pontiac continued.
Sometimes blazing arrows were launched from the
bows of his warriors upon the Chapel for the pur.
pose of burning it; and this they would have effected had they not been deterred from farther at.
tempts by a Jesuit, who persuaded them that such
an act would call down the vengeance of the Great
Spirit. A breach was now attempted to be made
in the pickets, and in this Major Gladwin co-op.




SIEGE OF DETROIT.          127
erated with them, by ordering his men to cut
them away from the inside, so that it was soon ac.
complished; but no sooner was it filled with the
Indians than a small brass cannon, which had been
brought to bear upon this point, was discharged
upon them, and made terrible havoc. After this the
fort was simply blockaded and its supplies cut off,
by which means great suffering was occasioned to
the garrison. Among the killed on the side of
the English was Sir Robert Devers, whose body
was boiled and eaten by the savages. Captain
Robertson experienced a similar fate, and of the
skin of one of his arms a tobacco-pouch was made.
Major Campbell, it will be recollected, had been
appointed to the command of the fort by Major
Rogers, and it was a great point with the savages
to get possession of the person of this officer, as he
was much esteemed, not only by the French and
English, but by the Indians also, for his chivalrous
character, and, therefore, the more valuable as a
hostage. Pontiac accordingly solicited an interview with this officer, that, as he stated,' they
might smoke the pipe of peace together." Two
French citizens recommended this interview, and
were, in fact, made the agents of Pontiac to effect
it. The Indian chief, in the mean time, solemnly
promised that the English commandant should be
permitted to return in safety to the fort. The proK




128        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
posal was acceded to; but no sooner had Pontiac
got his enemy into his hands, than his promise was
entirely forgotten, and he told him that his life
even should not be spared but on the condition that
the fort was surrendered. The conduct of Pontiac
in this transaction had been such as to destroy all
confidence in his word. The fate of this brave
and generous officer was truly melancholy. An
Ottawa chief had been killed in the siege of Michilimackinac, and his nephew hastened to Detroit
to seek for revenge. Here meeting with Major
Campbell, he instantly killed him with a blow of
his tomahawk. The murderer fled to Saginaw to
escape the vengeance of Pontiac.*
The Beaver, the armed vessel to which allusion
has been made, had been sent to Niagara for the
purpose of hastening the arrival of a re-enforce.
ment of men, and to procure a supply of provisions.
Lieutenant Cuyler, with ninety.seven men, was
sent from that post with supplies, and, apprehending no danger, they had landed at Point Pelee and
encamped. Here they were discovered by the Indians, and at dawn the next morning they were at.
tacked, and the whole party either cut off or taken
prisoners, with the exception of one officer and
thirty men, who succeeded in gaining a barge, in
which they crossed Lake Erie and reached San* Cass.




SIEGE OF DETROIT.           129
dusky Bay. The savages placed their prisoners
on board the boats, and compelled them to manage
them, escorting them in triumph to Detroit, along
the Canadian bank of the river. When they were
near this place, four British soldiers determined to
make their escape, and for this purpose changed
the course of the boat they were in, setting up at
the same time a loud cry. After some resistance
their Indian guards leaped overboard, one of them
dragging a soldier along with him, and they both
were drowned. The remaining three were now
fired on by the Indians in the other boats, and also
by those on the bank of the river, though without
any other effect than wounding one of their number. In the mean time, the armed schooner on
the Detroit side opened a fire upon the savages,
which dispersed their boats, and likewise the guard
upon the opposite shore. The rest of the prisoners were taken by the Indians to Hog Island, and
there put to death.*
The French residents themselves did not escape
wholly unharmed amid these scenes of savage violence. Maintaining a neutral position in the war,
they were regarded with no little jealousy by their
former allies of the Algonquin race. Their houses
were in several instances broken open, and their
cattle plundered by Pontiac's warriors, though the
* Cas88




130        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Ottawa chief gave to the sufferers certificates of
indemnity for all such losses, formed of pieces of
bark, on which was drawn the figure of an otter,
the emblem of his tribe, and these pledges were all
faithfully redeemed at a subsequent period.*
The savages, finding that all their attempts to
destroy the fort were unavailing, endeavoured to
engage the French in the alliance; and for this
purpose Pontiac assembled a council of his war.
riors and of the French inhabitants at the River
Aux Ecorce, on which occasion he addressed to
them the following speech:
"- My Brothers:-I have no doubt that this war
is very troublesome to you, and that my warriors,
who are continually passing and repassing through
your settlements, frequently kill your cattle and
injure your property. I am sorry for it, and
hope you do not think I am pleased with this conduct of my young men; and, as a proof of my
friendship, remember the war you had seventeen
years ago (1746), and the part I took in it. The
Northern nations combined together and came to
destroy you. Who defended you?   Was it not
myself and my young men? The great chief
Machinac (the Tui tic) said in council that he would
carry to his native village the head of your chief
warrior, and that he would eat his heart and drink
* Drake.




SIEGE OF DETROIT.          131
his blood. Did I not then join you, and go to his
canip and say to him, that if he wished to kill the
French, he must pass over my body and the bodies
of my young men? Did I not take up the tomahawk with you? aid you in fighting your battles
with Mackinac, and in driving him home to his
country?  Why do you think 1 would turn my
arms against you? Am I not the same French
Pontiac who assisted you seventeen years ago? I
am a Frenchman, and I wish to die a Frenchman.
" My brothers," continued Pontiac, throwing a
war-belt into the midst of the council, " I begin to
grow tired of this bad meat which is upon our lands,
but I see that this is not your case; for, instead of
assisting us in our war with the English, you are
actually assisting them. I have already told you,
and I now tell you again, that when I undertook
this war, it was only your interest I sought, and
that I knew what I was about. I yet.know what
I am about. This year they must all perish: the
Master of Life so orders it. His will is known to
us, and we must do as he says. And you, my
brothers, who know him better than we do, wish
to oppose his will. Until now I have avoided urging you upon this subject, in the hope that, if you
could not aid, you would not injure us. I did not
wish to ask you to fight with us against the English,




132        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
and I did not believe that you would take part with
them. You will say you are not with them. I
know it; but your conduct amounts to the same
thing. You tell them all we do, and you carry our
counsels and plans to them. Now take your
choice. You must be entirely French, like ourselves, or entirely English. If you are French,
take this belt for yourselves and for your young
men, and join us. If you are English, we declare
war against you."
Previous to this, and on the third of June, 17G3,
news had been received of the conclusion of peace
between France and England; and one of the
French inhabitants, holding up a copy of the trea.
ty in answer to this harangue, replied, "My brother, you see that our arms are tied by our great
father, the King of France: untie this knot, and
we will oin you; but, till that is done, we shall sit
quietly on our mats."
The vessel which had been despatched to Niag.
ara now returned with a supply of provisions and
arms. To prevent her reaching the fort, a great
number of Indians had left the siege and repaired
to Fighting Island, a short distance below. After
annoying her from their canoes at the mouth of
the river, they at length resolved to get possession
of her by boarding, and were approaching her with
all their force for that purpose, when she opened




SIEGE OF DETROIT.          133
upon them a destructive fire, which wounded and
killed a large number, and put the rest to flight.
She then dropped down the river to wait for a fair
wind, and a few days afterward reached Detroit
without farther molestation.*
Pontiac now endeavoured to destroy the vessels
which were anchored opposite to the fort, as they
greatly aided in its defence. He for this purpose
demolished the barns of several of the French settlers, and from the materials, which were of a res.
inous nature and perfectly dry, he constructed
rafts, and, setting them on fire, committed them to
the current of the river, which is here quite rapid, in
the expectation that they would float down against
them and burn them. The English, however, per.
ceiving his object, anchored small boats above the
vessels, fastened to each other with iron chains, to
intercept and turn away these dangerous masses,
in which they were perfectly successful, and the
blazing rafts passed harmlessly by.
It was not long, however, before efficient aid
was received by the English garrison. A fleet
of gun-boats made its appearance, strongly arm.
ed, and having on board a detachment of three
hundred regular troops, under the command of
Captain Dalyell, one of the aids of Sir Jeffry Amherst. Supposing that Pontiac might be surprised
* Cass



134        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
in his camp, they landed a force of two hundred
and forty.seven men, and marched up the river
with that object. But this chief, apprized of their
intentions, had removed his women and children,
and prepared for a vigorous defence. A party of
his warriors were concealed behind the pickets of
the neighbouring farms, others lay hid in the long
prairie grass, which grew here to a great height,
and others, again, were concealed behind heaps of
wood. The British force had no sooner reached
the point now called Bloody Bridge, than they re.
ceived a destructive fire from the rifles of the savages. For a moment their columns wavered, as
their commander, Captain Dalyell, had fallen at the
first discharge; but, soon rallying, they fought with
great bravery, and charged upon the enemy with
the bayonet. The Indians, however, without being
seen, continued to pour forth a destructive fire upon
the English, and could only be dislodged from their
places of concealment by driving them from house
to house and from field to field. Perceiving that
their numbers were diminishing, and that they
were fighting under great disadvantages, the English now commenced a retreat to the fort, protected by the armed gunboats, after a loss of nineteen
men killed and forty.two wounded.*
While these scenes were passing at Detroit,
* Drake.




FORT OF MICHILIMACKINAC.       135
events of a still more tragical character were taking place on the upper lakes. Michilimackinac,
which is distant nearly four hundred miles from
Detroit, has been already described. This fort
was surrounded with pickets of cedar, and its
stockade was washed by the waves of the strait.
At that time the fort was protected by several
pieces of brass cannon, taken from the trading.
posts of Hudson's Bay. There was a chapel in
which mass was regularly performed by a Jesuit
missionary. At this post there were about thirty
families, and it was garrisoned by ninety-three
men. The savages here were still more inveterate
in their hostility to the English than at Detroit.
Alexander Henry, the English trader, had been
obliged to wear the garb of a coureur des bois on
his way to that post, where there were then but
four English merchants residing. The hostile disposition of the savages was, indeed, clearly manifested on his first arrival. He had been there but
a very short time when he was visited by a body
of Chippewas, painted and dressed in the most
warlike style, with feathers thrust through their
noses. Their chief, Minavavana, thus addressed
him:*
"Englishman, it is to you that I speak, and I
demand your attention.
* Henry.
L




136        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
"Englishman, you know that the French king
is our father; he promised to be such, and we, in
return, promised to be his children: this promise
we have kept.
"' Englishman, it is you that have made war with
this our father. You are his enemy, and how, then,
could you have the boldness to venture among us
his children? You know that his enemies are ours.
"Englishman, we are informed that our father,
the King of France, is old and infirm, and that,
being fatigued with making war upon your nation,
he has fallen asleep. During this sleep you have
taken advantage of him, and possessed yourselves
of Canada. But his nap is almost at an end: I
think I hear him already stirring, and inquiring for
his children the Indians; and when he does awake,
what must become of you? He will destroy you
utterly.
" Englishman, although you have conquered the
French, you have not yet conquered us. We are
not your slaves. These lakes, these woods and
mountains, are left to us by our ancestors; they
are our inheritance, and we will part with them to
none. Your nation supposes that we, like the
white people, cannot live without bread, and pork,
and beef, but you ought to know that He, the Great
Spirit and Master of Life, has provided food for us
in these spacious lakes and on these wooded
mountains.




SPEECH OF MINAVAVANA.        137
Englishman, our father, the King of France,
employed our young men to make war upon your
nation. In this war many of them have been
killed, and it is our custom to retaliate until such
time as the spirits of the slain are satisfied. But
the spirits of the slain are only to be satisfied in
one of two ways: the first is by spilling the blood
of the nation by which they fell; the other, by
covering the bodies of the dead, and thus allaying
the resentment of their relations. This is done by
making presents.
"Englishman, your king has never sent us any
presents, nor entered into any treaty with us,
wherefore he and we are still at war; and, while he
does these things, we must consider that we have
no other father or friend among the white people
than the King of France. But for you, we have
taken into consideration that you have ventured
among us in the expectation that we should not
molest you. You do not come armed with an
intention to make war. You come in peace to
trade with us, and supply us with necessaries of
which we are much in want. We shall regard
you, therefore, as a brother, and you may sleep
tranquilly, without fear of the Chippewas. As a
token of our friendship, we present you this pipe
to smoke."
But, although no attack was made upon him, it




138        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
was perceived that the spirit of the savages was
anything but friendly. He was afterward visited
by a chief who was at the head of a party of Ottawa warriors, who also made him a speech, and
compelled him to deliver a part of his goods to the
Indians on a credit.
Thus affairs were here speedily coming to a crisis. The warriors in the wilderness around this
post had also received from Pontiac the war-belt,
and were now busy in collecting their bands for
the purpose of joining his confederacy, the object
of which was to blot out the English power from
the territory bordering on the lakes. No serious
suspicions were awakened at Michilimackinac, although large bodies of Indians had been noticed collecting around the post, some of them apparently
for the purpose of purchasing European merchan.
dise, trinkets, and silver ornaments which Henry
had for sale, but for the most part without any
apparent object.
On the seventh of June, Wawatam, a Chippewa
chief, called on this trader, who had recently come
from the Sault de Ste. Marie, telling him that he
was sorry that he had left the Sault, and requesting
that he would go back with him to that post the fol.
lowing day. He also desired to know if Major Etherington had not received some bad news; for,
said he, "I have been disturbed with the noise of




ATTACK UPON MICHILIMACKINAC.      139
evil birds."* The following day he repeated his
request, and urged his suspicions anew. The tra.
der conceived it to be his duty to inform Major
Etherington of what had taken place; but, unfortunately, this officer paid no attention to it, considering it as mere idle apprehension.
The number of the savages having greatly increased, it was proposed the next day to celebrate
the anniversary of the king's birth by a game
which is called Baggatiway. This is a common
game among the Indians, and is played with bats
and ball. A ball is placed in the centre of an open
piece of ground; the players divide themselves into
two parties, and a struggle then takes place be.
tween them to knock the ball to the post of the op
posite party. It had been agreed among the sav.
ages to throw the ball, as if by accident, over the
pickets; and, when this had been done, to rush after it, possess themselves of the fort, and massacre
the garrison.*
The game was accordingly commenced, and
Major Etherington, who was present as a spectator, laid a wager on the success of the Chippewas,
the greater part of the garrison being at the same
time collected outside the fort to witness the sport.
Suddenly the ball, according to their previous un.
derstanding, was thrown over the pickets, and, as
* Henry




140        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
appeared very natural, the Indians all rushed after
it. But almost instantly the war-cry of the sava.
ges rose from the interior of the fort, and a dreadful scene commenced. The trader, who had been
prevented from being present at the game, hearing
the tumult without, and finding the savages, about
four hundred in number, in possession of the post,
crawled over a low fence which separated his
house from that of M. Langlade, a French Canadian, and entreated him to afford him some place
of concealment. But Langlade, shrugging up his
shoulders, hastily turned away from the window
where he had been looking out, coolly saying that he
knew of no such place. At this moment a Pawnee
slave belonging to Langlade beckoned to Henry to
come to a door which she pointed out to him, conducted him to the garret of the house, and, having
concealed him there, locked the door and took
away the key.
Henry gazed through the crevices of the wall
upon the scene below, and it was a scene of horror.
A great number of the English soldiers lay dead
around the fort; some were seen struggling be.
tween the knees of the savages, who were scalping
them while yet alive. Others were cut in pieces,
and their blood was drank by the warriors from the
hollows of their hands joined together, while they
were shrieking most hideously, like so many de.




ATTACK UPON MICHILIMACKINAC.     141
mons. At length there was a profound silence, an
awful stillness, which denoted that, for want of
more victims, the work of death was done.*
The Indians now gathered about the house of
Langlade, and asked him if any of the English had
taken shelter there. Langlade replied that none
had to his knowledge, but that they might examine
for themselves. Two or three of the savages coning to the garret door, demanded the key, and, unlocking it, went in
By this time Henry had concealed himself behind a heap of birch-bark vessels which were used
in the making of maple-sugar, where the dark colour of his clothes, aided by the absence of light in
the room, prevented him from being seen, so that
the Indians, satisfying themselves that there was
no one there, soon went away. There was a mat
in the room, and Henry, laying himself down on
it, soon fell asleep. It was not long, however, before he was awakened by the wife of Langlade,
who informed him that most of the English had
been despatched, but that he might hope to escape.
The shades of night now came on, and the trader
sought again in slumber to forget the horrors of the
scene.
He was not, however, so easily to escape. Langlade's wife, notwithstanding the encouragement she
* Henry.




142        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
had held out to him, determined to make known
his place of concealment, saying that the Indians
would murder her if the trader was found secreted
in her house. Accordingly, she took the key and
gave it to Wenniway, a chief of the most hideous
appearance. This warrior was more than six feet
in height, and his naked body was painted all over
with a mixture of grease and charcoal, as was his
face, with the exception of a circular ring around
each of his eyes.* Accompanied by a body of
savages, he entered the garret, and approaching
the trembling trader, grasped him by the collar,
and fixing his eyes steadfastly upon him, raised
his knife as if about to plunge it into his breast;
but, suddenly checking himself, he dropped the fatal weapon and said, "I won't kill you. I have
lost a brother whose name is Musinigon. You
shall be called after him."
But the sufferings of the trader were not yet at
an end. He was stripped of his clothes and carried
to L'Arbre a Croche as a prisoner. Here, how.
7sr, his friend Wawatam, faithful to his promise
of protection, appeared in his behalf, ransomed
him, and accompanied the trader to the island of
Mackinaw, where he concealed him from a band
of drunken savages in what is now called the Scull
Rock.
"Henry.




CLOSE OF THE WAR.           143
The fort of Michilimackinac was now burned
to the ground. Seventy of the English soldiers
had been massacred, and, to complete the sanguinary deed, the bodies of many of them were boiled
and eaten by the savages: the lives of the remainder, as well as of the prisoners taken at St. Joseph
and Green Bay, were spared, and on the return of
peace they were all released, either with or without ransom. At the close of these tragical events,
a number of Indian canoes arrived with English
traders, who were beaten, insulted, and marched
to the prison lodge.
After the work of devastation had been finish.
ed, many of the Indians retired to the island of
Mackinaw, while others repaired to Detroit, to aid
Pontiac in the siege of this post. This chief, however, soon found that his enemies were too formi.
dable for him. General Bradstreet now arrived to,
relieve the fort, at the head of an army of three
thousand men. On his way he had destroyed the
villages of the hostile savages, laid waste their
cornfields along the rich bottoms of the Maumee,
dispersed the natives in every direction, and reach.
ed Detroit without opposition. The Indians, per.
ceiving that they could no longer contend against
so powerful a foe, laid down their arms, and thus
the war was brought to a close.
Of Pontiac after his discomfiture, but little is




144        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
certainly known. Disappointed and mortified at
the failure of his plans, he retired to Illinois, where
he was assassinated about the year 1767 by an Indian of the Peoria tribe.* The character of this
chief was bold and strongly marked. Excelled by
none of his race in courage, strength, and energy,
he possessed traits which pointed him out for a
leader. To have had sufficient influence to bring
the numerous tribes of the West, along a frontier
of a thousand miles, to co-operate with him in his
desperate undertaking, must have required much
more than ordinary talents. Although destitute
of those principles of honour which prevail among
civilized nations in the operations of war, he possessed a larger share of humanity than is commonly found among savages. Undismayed by dif.
ficulties, and far.seeing and comprehensive in his
plans, he fought from a sense of justice and in defence of the rich domain which had been bequeath.
ed to him by his ancestors.
* Cass.




THE FUR-TRADE.             145
CHAPTER VI.
Coadition of the Fur-trade under the English.-Hudson's Bay
Company.-English Administration of the Law.-Criminal
Trial.-Quebec Act.-Mineral Rock on Lake Superior.Northwest Company.-American Revolution.-Expeditions
from Detroit.-Indian Council held at Detroit.-American
Independence established.
FROM the year 1679, when La Salle and Henne.
pin crossed Lake Erie with the first vessel that
had ever disturbed the waters of that lake, the face
of the country had been, down to the time of the
English occupation, but little changed. During
the period of the French power in this quarter, the
fur-trade had been vigorously carried on along the
great chain of lakes, and through every channel in
which it could be made to circulate, either by companies chartered for that object, or by individual
enterprise. The coureurs des bois, who acted, says
La Hontan, " like East Indiamen and pirates,"* returning periodically from their inland voyages to
swell the population at the different posts, brought
with them in bark canoes the furs and peltry which
they had collected, and deposited them at the factories erected to receive them: from thence they
* La Hontan's Voyages.




146        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
were at regular seasons transported to the headquarters of the trade at Montreal and Quebec,
where they were shipped for Europe.
The principal channels through which this traft
fic was carried on between the upper and lower
provinces, continued to be the Ottawa River or
Lake Erie, the packs, when the latter course was
adopted, being transported across the portage of
Niagara Falls upon the backs of the traders.
The condition of this trade under the French,
although depending much on the peculiar character
of the people, was essentially modified by the positive operation of the laws. The government of
the colony was, it is true, exercised with apparent
mildness, but still it was impressed with those harsh
principles which characterized the most aristocratic
period of the Bourbons. Even the form of land
distribution, founded on the Coutume de Paris, was
extended to the French colonies of the West. Its
operation was exceedingly oppressive, and greatly
retarded the growth of the settlements. It confined the energies of the people to narrow tracts
of land, granted under burdensome conditions, pla.
cing them in the power of seigneurs, which was
but another name for masters, instead of opening
the broad and fertile bosom of the West to ftee and
unencumbered industry, such as is now effecting
such extraordinary changes in that region under




CONDITION UNDER THE ENGLISH        147
the equal laws of our own republic. The people
under this system were but the mere appendages
of large corporations, parts of a vast machine which
was planned and kept in motion solely for the ben.
efit of royal monopolies.
It has been remarked that the aspect of things
in these remote regions was but little changed after
they came into the possession of the Englisb, The
chapels and the forts continued in much tne same
state; the little farms of the French, surrounded by
pickets, stretched along the banks of the streams
as before; and the country presented a variegated
aspect of French, English, and Indian manners.*
The red coats of the British regulars contrasted
very strikingly with the peasant garb of the French
farmers, and with the wild and fantastic dress of
the natives.
The insurrection being quelled, a system of con.
ciliatory measures was adopted to secure the good.
will of the disaffected tribes; small grants of land
were made around the posts, and the Indians themselves were induced to cede portions of their territory for a trifling consideration to the French
colonists. These grants were made, however,
without any authority from the British government.
The French settlements extended along the banks
of the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers to the distance
* Carver.




148        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
of about twenty miles above and below the town,
with here and there a lonely hut of some French
trader at a favourable point in the interior. De.
troit continued to be the most prominent post, and
three years after the Pontiac war the town contained not less than a hundred houses, independent
of the barracks. On the west side of the town lay
the commons, which received the name of the
King's Garden. The fort was surrounded by pickets and mounted with small cannon, was garrisoned by two hundred men, and the commandant ex.
ercised a sort of arbitrary power under the general
supervision of the Governor-general of Canada.*
Meanwhile the Hudson's Bay Company, which
had been long a rival of the old French companies,
extended its operations through the wilderness
which had been the ranging ground of the French
traders. This company had been chartered in
1669 by Charles II. That charter, granted to a
company of English merchants, authorized them
to occupy a very extensive region north of Canada
for the prosecution of the fur-trade, to establish
military posts for the defence of their persons and
property, and to traffic with the native tribes.
From 1763 to the close of the three following
years, the trade from Montreal with the interior had been greatly diminished, the Indians car* Carver.




HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.         149
rying on most of their traffic with the agents of
the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1766 individual
adventurers began to extend their operations along
the lake shores, in the same track that had formerly been pursued by the French, and soon came
in collision with the large companies which were
striving to occupy for their exclusive benefit this
extensive region. Thus the course of the trade
continued to present the same wild features which
had characterized it under the former regime.
The English made but little change either in the
laws or in their administration, and pursued the
same general policy as had their predecessors the
French. The commandants of the posts, although
responsible to the governor.general at Quebec,
were still possessed of a discretionary power which
was all but absolute, and which they exercised in a
highly arbitrary manner, as perhaps was necessary among such a population as they had to deal
with. Whenever any crime was committed, how.
ever, which required a formal trial, it was customary for these officers to summon a jury of the most
respectable inhabitants, and to abide by their de.
cision.
A semblance of the criminal laws of England
was, it is true, introduced, but these laws were administered without any regard to fixed principles
or to established rules. A single example will




150        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
suffice to show the manner in which legal pro.
ceedings were conducted in 1776.
Governor Hamilton, at that time the command.
ing officer at Detroit, being informed of a theft
committed by a Canadian Frenchman, directed
Philip Dejean and twelve jurors to hear and adjudge the case: they accordingly proceeded to
the trial, and convicted the individual of the crime
alleged against him.  The record of this trial
has come down to us, and it is a most singular
document. Lord Dorchester, however, then governor of Canada, was no sooner made acquainted
with the proceedings in this case, so contrary to
every principle of law, than he issued a warrant
for the arrest of Hamilton and Dejean, though,
unfortunately, they had both previously left the
country.*
In 1774 an act was passed, called the Quebec
Act, establishing the boundaries of Canada, including Michigan, and extending thence to the Missis.
sippi and Ohio Rivers on the south, and north from
the St. Lawrence to the latitude of 52~, or to the
lands of the Hudson's Bay Company. This act
granted to the Catholic inhabitants the free exercise
of their religion, the undisturbed possession of their
Church property, and the right in all matters of
litigation to demand a trial according to the former
* Colonial Record of 1776.




MINING OPERATIONS.          151
laws of the province. But this right was not ex.
tended to the settlers on lands granted by the Eng.
lish crown. The criminal laws of England were
introduced into Canada, and the crown reserved
to itself the right of establishing courts of civil,
criminal, and ecclesiastical jurisdiction.*
The enterprise of the people was not wholly
confined to the fur-trade.  The mineral region
upon the shores of Lake Superior had been visited
as early as 1773; a project was formed for working the copper ore discovered there, and a company in England had obtained a charter for that
object. This company consisted of the Duke of
Gloucester, Mr. Secretary Townshend, Sir Samuel
Tutchet, Bart., Mr. Baxter, consul of the Empress
of Russia, Mr. Cruikshank, Sir William Johnston,
Bart., Mr. Bostwick, and Alexander Henry, the
French fur-trader who figured so conspicuously in
the fall of Michilimackinac. A sloop was accordingly purchased, and the miners commenced their
operations. They soon found, however, that the
expenses of blasting and of transportation were too
great to warrant the prosecution of the enterprise,
and it was abandoned. Previous to this, a com.
pany of English adventurers had embarked in the
same project, but they also gave it up on account,
as they said, "of the distracted state of affairs in
America."t
* M'Gregor                  t Henry.
M




152        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
In 1783 several influential merchants, who had
been individually engaged in the fur-trade, entered
into partnership for its more vigorous prosecution,
though without any charter, and established what
was styled the Northwest Company. The stock
of this company was divided into sixteen shares.
No money was paid in, but each of the partners
engaged to furnish his proportion of the goods necessary to carry on the trade.
In 1787 the shareholders appointed from their
number special agents to import from England
such goods as might be required, and to store them
at Montreal. The plan they adopted for conducting the trade was similar to that which had been
pursued by the French. The European goods were,
by the orders of the agents, made into such articles
as were wanted by the traders and Indians, and
packed up and forwarded, and the money for the
outfits was also supplied by them.*
Storehouses were erected in convenient and accessible situations on the borders of the lakes, and the
posts formerly occupied by the French were em.
ployed for the same purpose. Connected with these
there were also trading-houses, and places where
the various persons employed in carrying on the
trade might be accommodated. Agents were sent
to Detroit, Mackinaw, the Sault de Ste. Marie, and
* M'Kenzie.




" MESS-ROOM."            153
the Grand Portage near Lake Superior, M here the
furs were deposited when brought from the interior, and whose business it was to have them pack.
ed and sent to Montreal for shipment to England.*
The most important point of the fur-trade was
the Grand Portage of Lake Superior, situated in a
remote region to the northwest, where the great.
est quantity of furs could be collected. Here
the proprietors of the establishment, the guides,
clerks, and interpreters, messed together in a large
hall hung round with elk-horns, ornamented pipes,
hatchets, and other implements used by the Indians
in war and peace, while the canoe-men, or cou.
reurs des bois, were allowed nothing but a dish
which they called " hommony," consisting of Indian
corn boiled in a strong alkali and seasoned with fat.
The persons employed in this traffic were a
motley and very peculiar race. Besides the clerks,
interpreters, and guides, there was a numerous
body, half Indian and half French, which had been
constantly increasing in this quarter from the fre.
quent intermarriages between the traders and the
native women. The canoes employed by them
were of large size, each one being capable of con.
taining ten men and about sixty-five packages of
furs.
The European goods purchased for this traffic
* M'Kenzie.




154        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
consisted of blankets, cutlery, glass beads, and
other trinkets, besides different articles that were
obtained at Montreal.
These goods were ordered from England the
season before they were wanted, shipped from
London the following spring, and arrived in Cana.
da early in the summer. Here they were made
up into packages of a convenient size, weighing
each about ninety pounds, sent to the interior the
next spring, exchanged for furs during the succeed.
ing winter, and the following autumn these furs
were received at Montreal and shipped for London.*
Thus this interesting trade, which had been carried on for more than a century, still continued to
circulate in its ordinary channels along the waters
of the lakes. But the spirit of mercantile rivalry
was carried to a great extent, and, unhappily, ex.
cited all the worst passions in the human breast.
The Hudson Bay and Northwest Companies, the
respective boundaries of which were not very clear.
ly defined, came into active and desperate collision,
and made repeated attacks upon the trading-posts
of each other.  Lord Selkirk, however, having
placed himself at the head of the Hudson's Bay
Company, succeeded at length in uniting the stock
of the two companies, and thus put an end to
the strife. These two companies held dominion
* M'Kenzie.




COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION. 155
over the territory bordering on the lakes, and studied only to keep it a barren, howling waste, that
they might the better fill their own coffers.
The American Revolution was now about to
break forth. The people of the English colonies
at the East had declared that they would not submit to be taxed by the mother-country unless they
were represented in the British Parliament. A
duty having been imposed upon tea, a vessel lying
in Boston harbour with a quantity of it on board
had been taken possession of by a party of the inhabitants, and the obnoxious article was thrown
into the sea. From this may be dated the commencement of a struggle which, in the desperation
with which it was fought and the magnitude of its
results, is scarcely paralleled in history.
During this eventful struggle, the wilderness
then comprising the territory of the present State
of Michigan, with but a small population, consisting principally of British soldiers and persons connected with the fur-trade, from its remote situation
was but little affected by the war, though the In.
dians within its borders were employed to harass
the American settlements upon the frontiers of
New-York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Detroit and Michilimackinac were during this
period the points of greatest interest. At these
posts the Indian warriors were assembled and fur



156        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
nished with arms and ammunition, and from thence
they were despatched against the nearest American settlements, to pillage, burn, and destroy, and
to massacre and scalp the defenceless inhabitants.
On their return from their murderous expeditions,
these savage allies were met by the British commanders in the council-houses of Mackinaw and
Detroit, and there received the stipulated price for
the scalps which they brought.
It is not to be wondered at that the European
inhabitants of Michigan and Canada should have
been opposed to the doctrines of the American
Revolution. The French population had been accustomed to a despotic government, and from habit were little inclined to any other; while the English colonists were mere adventurers, and had come
to the country for no other reason than to benefit
their fortunes by its trade. They were therefore
actuated by a totally different spirit from that which
animated the inhabitants of the original English
colonies, who were fixed in their habits, and who
had fled from the persecution of the people of England, that they might enjoy, undisturbed, the right of
self-government in matters of religion.
Not only were parties of Indians sent out against
the American settlements, but in some instances
they were supported by the regular troops and the
local militia. One of these joint expeditions, com.




EXPEDITION OF GOVERNOR HAMILTON. 157
manded by Captain Byrd, set out from Detroit to
attack Louisville. It proceeded in boats as far
as it could ascend the Maumee River, and from
thence crossed over to the Ohio; but the high water here preventing them from reaching the place
for which they started, they marched to what is
called Ruddle's Station. The formidable force
which they presented intimidated the garrison at
this post, and it immediately surrendered, under the
promise of being protected from the Indians. This
promise, however, was violated, and the prisoners
were all massacred. A small stockade, called
Martin's Station, was likewise taken by the same
commander, and his advance threw the whole region into the utmost consternation, when he suddenly withdrew.*
Another expedition started from Detroit undei
the command of Henry Hamilton, the commandant
of the post. At that time the feeble settlements in
what now comprises Kentucky were much exposed
to the hostile inroads of the savages, and General
Clarke, an officer of great bravery and experience,
had been sent by the governor of Virginia for
their defence. Supposing that he could the better
accomplish his object by reducing Kaskaskia, Kahokia, and other small French settlements in this
regionr which were believed to be friendly to the
* Cas.




158        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
British cause, he descended the river and took possession of them.
Governor Hamilton was no sooner informed of
these proceedings than he collected a force of regulars, militia, and Indians, and proceeded to St.
Vincent, where he halted to make arrangements
for active operations as soon as the season would
permit. His design was to recover the posts which
had been captured by General Clarke, to attack
and defeat the force under his command, and destroy the infant settlements of the Americans in
this region.
General Clarke was soon advised of the movements of Hamilton. A Spanish merchant inform.
ed him that this officer was extremely careless in
his operations, and that he had sent a part of his
force to the Ohio River to destroy the settlements
along its banks. The American general accordingly despatched an armed boat to the Wabash,
with orders to her commander not to permit anything to pass that river, while he himself set out
with one hundred and thirty men for the same
point, although in the depth of winter. Sixteen
days were occupied in crossing the country, the
soldiers sometimes marching up to their breasts in
water along the shores of the Wabash, that stream
having overflowed its banks. As soon as they ar.
rived at St. Vincent, the soldiers were drawn up




THE DELAWARES.             159
in order of battle, and, with the trunk of a tree
formed in the shape of a cannon, they boldly ad.
vanced to attack the British post. Governor Hamilton, supposing that he was about to be assailed by
artillery, immediately surrendered. The British
were suffered to return to Detroit; but their com.
mander, who was known to have been active in in.
stigating the Indians to commit the greatest bar.
barities, was placed in irons, and sent to Virginia
as a prisoner of war.*
Still some of the savages were not well affected
to the British cause. As early as in 1776, the
Delawares had received a message from the Hurons of Detroit, requesting them to " keep their shoes
in readiness to unite with their warriors." Netawatwees, however, the chief of the Delawares, who
wished to remain neutral, would not listen to this
proposal, but sent to the Huron chief in return
several belts of wampum, admonishing him at the
same time to keep quiet, and to remember the misery which the Hurons had formerly brought upon
themselves by engaging in wars on the side of the
French. The reply of the Delawares was deliver.
ed in the presence of De Peyster, the English commandant, who cut the belts of wampum in pieces,
threw them on the ground, and commanded the
messengers who brought them instantly to quit the
country.t
* Cass.             t Loskiel.




160        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Certain Moravian missionaries, who were. engaged in their peaceful and pious labours on the
banks of the Muskingum, did not escape the suspicions of the English in this quarter. These disin.
terested and charitable men were accused of hold.
ing a secret correspondence with the Congress at
Philadelphia, and of contributing their influence, as
well as that of their Indian congregation, to aid
the American cause.
The Indian agent was therefore sent to Niagara,
and a grand council of the Iroquois was assembled,
at which those tribes were urged to break up the
Indian congregation collected by the Moravians.
Not wishing, however, to have anything to do with
it, they sent a message to the Chippewas and Ottawas, with a belt, stating that they gave the Indian
congregation into their hands " to make soup of."*
In 1781 the Moravian missionaries arrived at
Detroit, where they were immediately brought be.
fore De Peyster, the English commandant.  A
war council was held at the same time, when the
council-house was completely filled, the different
tribes being arranged on either side. The assembly was addressed in a long speech by Captain
Pipe, the principal chief of the Wolf tribe, who had
committed the most savage barbarities upon the
scattered American settlements. He told the com.
Loskiel.




BRITISH INFLUENCE.          161
mandant " that the English might fight the Ameri.
cans if they chose: it was their cause, and not his;
that they had raised a quarrel among themselves,
and that it was their business to fight it out.
They had set him on the Americans," he said, "as
the hunter sets his dog upon the game." By the
side of the British commander stood a war-chief,
with a stick in his hand four feet in length, strung
with American scalps. "Now, father," said he,
presenting the stick and addressing himself to the
commandant, "here is what has been done with
the hatchet you gave me. I have made the use
of it that you ordered me to do, and found it
sharp."*
It was by such influences that these savage tribes
were instigated to commit the most atrocious cruelties against the defenceless American settlements
on the frontiers during the whole course of the
Revolutionary war.  Every avenue was closed
whereby a different influence might be introduced
among them, and they were made to believe that
the Americans were only seeking to possess them.
selves of their lands, and to drive them away from
the territory they had inherited from their forefathers.
But, after the country from Maine to Florida
had been drenched with blo6d in this great contest' Loskiel.




162        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
for freedom, the American cause was at last tri.
umphant; and by the treaty of peace concluded at
Versailles in 1783, an end was at least temporarily
put to these barbarities: the distant settlers were
permitted once more to resume their labours, and
to sleep without alarm.




BAD FAITH OF THE ENGLISH.            163
CHAPTER VII.
Northwestern Territory organized.-Arthur St. Clair appointed
Governor.-English refuse to surrender the Posts.-Indian
Disaffection.-Indian Council at Detroit.-Message from the
Spanish Settlements on the Banks of the Mississippi.-Campaign of General Harmar.-Campaign of General St. Clair.Campaign of General Wayne.-Extension of French Settlements.-Michigan surrendered to the United States.-Condition of the Territory in connexion with the Fur-trade.-Currency employed in the Fur-trade.
BUT, although the war was at an end, the posts
and trading stations along the lakes, within the ac.
knowledged limits of the United States, were not
given up. Of the real causes which induced the
British government, in violation of all the principles
of good faith, to retain these posts, we have no
means of judging. It may, however, be fairly in.
ferred from the conduct of individuals, that if
that government did not actually and by direct
means promote the Indian war which broke out
at this time, it did not, to say the least, discounte.
nance it.
There is ample evidence to show that British
emissaries were sent to the remote Indian tribes
on the borders of the lakes to instigate them to




164        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
take up arms, and that, after they had done so,
they looked for aid from the English garrisons
within the American territory. In the treaty of
peace of 1783, there was no express stipulation in
regard to the surrender of the northwestern posts;
but by the second article of Jay's treaty in 1794,
it was agreed that the British troops should be
withdrawn from all the posts assigned to the United States by the former treaty (of 1783) on or
before the first day of June, 1796.
The conduct of England in so long persisting in
retaining possession of a country which did not belong to her, we shall not pretend to account for;
but the value of this country, from the richness of
its soil and its other advantages, soon began to attract attention.
Measures were accordingly taken for its temporary government. The circumstance which had
more particularly directed the public attention to
this western domain was a memorial from the soldiers and officers of the Revolutionary army, presented to General Washington in 1783, setting
forth their claims to a portion of the public lands.
Nothing, however, was granted to them at that
time.*
The country had been completely exhausted by
the terrible struggle in which it had been so long
* North American Review.




CESSION OF LANDS TO CONGRESS.     165
engaged, and, heavily burdened with debt, it was
now seeking for some means by which it could secure its liquidation; and as the war had been pros.
ecuted for the general good, it was held that the
states claiming lands in this quarter were bound to
grant portions of them for this object. The territory northwest of the Ohio was claimed by several
of the Eastern States, on the ground that it was
included within the limits indicated by their char.
ters from the English crown. In answer to the
wishes of the government and people, these states
in a patriotic spirit surrendered their claims to this
extensive territory, that it might constitute a common fund to aid in the payment of the national debt.
To prepare the way for this cession, a law had
been passed in October, 1780, that the territory so
to be ceded should be disposed of for the common
benefit of the whole Union; that the states erected
therein should be of suitable extent, not less than
one hundred nor more than one hundred and fifty
miles square; and that any expenses that might be
incurred in recovering the posts then in the hands
of the British should be reimbursed.
New-York released her claims to Congress on
the 1st of March, 1781; Virginia on the 1st of
the same month, 1784; Massachusetts on the 19th
of April, 1785; and Connecticut on the 4th of Sep.
tember, 1786,




166        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Meanwhile, the Iroquois in 1784 conveyed to the
United States all their right to any lands west of
Pennsylvania; and on the 1st of January, 1785, by
the treaty of Fort M'Intosh, the Ottawas, Chippewas, Delawares, and Wyandots surrendered all
the lands claimed by them south of the Ohio, a belt
of territory six miles broad, commencing at the
River Raisin and extending along the strait to Lake
St. Clair, a tract of twelve miles square at the Rapids of the Maumee, together with the Islands of
Bois Blanc and Mackinaw, and also a tract six
miles by three on the mainland, to the north of the
last-mentioned island. These different cessions
having been obtained from the native tribes, in
1787 a government was organized for this extensive region, which received the name of the North..
west Territory.*
It is unnecessary here to examine particularly
the details of this ordinance: it was based on
the principles of civil liberty maintained in the
Magna Charta of England, re-enacted in the bill of
rights, and incorporated into our different state
constitutions. This ordinance, it is well known,
was drawn up by Nathan Dane, of Beverley, Mas.
sachusetts, a benevolent and excellent man, and a
distinguished lawyer, who was the compiler of a
very valuable abridgment of American Law, and
* North American Review.




INJUSTICE OF THE BRITISH.      167
the founder of the Dane Law school in the University of Cambridge.
On the 7th of April, 1788, a company of forty.
seven individuals landed at the spot where Mariet.
ta now stands, and there commenced the settlement
of Ohio. The first code of laws for this territory
was published by nailing them to the body of a tree
upon the banks of the Muskingum, and Return Jonathan Meigs was appointed to administer them, the
governor, Arthur St. Clair, not having yet arrived.
We have seen that the Western posts were still
retained by the British government, notwithstand.
ing the peace concluded in 1783. Several questions of no little interest had sprung up, which excited unfriendly feelings between the two nations,
and governed their policy. Debts due by Americans to British subjects, the payment of which
had been guarantied by the treaty, were not paid;
and on the other hand, the slaves belonging to
American citizens, and who had been taken away
by the British officers, were not restored. In
consequence of this unsettled state of things, when
the Baron Steuben was sent by General Washington to Sir Frederic Haldimand at Quebec to
arrange matters for the occupation of these posts,
with instructions to proceed to Michigan, and along
the line of the lake frontier, for the purpose of ta.
king possession of them, he was informed that they
N




168        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
would not be given up, and was refused passports
to Niagara and Detroit.*
Combined with the retention of the posts, a new
confederacy among the savages was evidently organizing in the West. As early as December,
1786, a grand council of the different tribes was
held near the mouth of the Detroit River. At this
council were delegates from the Six Nations, from
the Hurons, the Ottawas, the Miamis, the Shawanese, the Chippewas, th( r^lherokees, the Delawares,
the Pottawatamies, and funom the confederates of
the Wabash. The principal subject of discussion
at this council appears to have been a question of
boundary. It was contended by the Indians that
the United States had no right to cross the Ohio
River, but they advised a pacific line of policy so
long as there was no actual encroachment upon
their territory. The design of this discussion undoubtedly was to create a belief that the Americans intended to drive them from their lands, and,
as was said, to "kindle their council fires wher.
ever they thought proper, without consulting the
Indians." The American government, indeed, considered that the treaty of 1783 vested in them jurisdiction over the Indian territory: a claim which
the native occupants were by no means disposed
to admit. At this time, also, the United States
* Stonp




PLEA FOR RETAINING THE WESTERN POSTS. 169
were at issue with a foreign power respecting the
right of navigating the Mississippi.
Among other things, as a plea for still retaining
the Western posts, it was pretended by the Eng.
lish that the extensive and valuable country in
which they were situated had been ceded away
through some oversight on the part of the commissioners, or from their ignorance of the geography
of the country. But the real motives by which
they were actuated are sufficiently manifest. They
had already succeeded in exciting hostile feelings
among the Indian tribes, and this they were determined to take advantage of for the purpose of pre.
venting this broad and fertile region fiom passing
out of their hands.
Many of the half-breeds were also active in seconding the views of the English, not only by infla.
ming the minds of the Indians, but by promising to
take up arms in their cause, from a belief that if
they (lid not thus side with them, they would not afterward be suffered to trade in their territory.
Meanwhile, Alexander M'Kenzie, an agent of the
British government, visited Detroit, painted like a
savage, and stated that he had just returned from
the remote tribes of the upper lakes, who were all
in arms, and prepared to oppose the claims of the
Americans to the western lands; that large bod.
ies of warriors had already assembled, and that they




170        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
were about to attack the infant settlements of Vir.
ginia and Ohio."  The artifice practised by M'Kenzie succeeded to his wish; and he could the better
operate upon the prejudices and passions of the Indians, as he spoke their language perfectly well.
Elliot and the notorious Simon Girty were no less
active in exciting the savages to war.
In 1794 an agent was sent from the Spanish settlements on the banks of the Mississippi for the
same object, and to hasten the organization of the
Indian confederacy against the United States.
" Children," said he to his savage auditors, "you
see me on my feet, grasping the tomahawk to
strike them (the Americans). We will strike together. I do not desire you to go before me in
the front, but to follow me. Children, you hear
what these distant nations have said to us, so that
we have nothing to do but to put our designs into
immediate execution, and to forward this pipe to
the three warlike nations who have been so long
struggling for their country. Tell them to smoke
this pipe, and to forward it to all the lake Indians,
and to their Northern brethren. Then nothing
will be wanting to complete our general union
from the rising to the setting of the sun, and all
the nations will be ready to add strength to the
blow we are going to strike."t Excited by these
* Schoolcraft            t Stone.




GENERAL HARMAR DEFEATED.        171
various means, Iands of savage warriors, armed with
the tomahawk and scalping-knife, were seen hastening towards the lake posts, and another great Indian confederacy was formed, consisting of the
Ottawas, the Pottawatamies, the Wyandots, the
Miamis, the Chippewas, and the Delawares.
As early as 1785 and 1786, the hostile Indians had
occasionally sent their war-parties against the feeble frontier settlements in Kentucky and along the
banks of the Ohio, where a few enterprising emigrants from Virginia and New-England had erected their little clusters of log cabins.
These border incursions, which most clearly appear to have been countenanced by the British, induced the American government in 1790 to send
into that quarter General Josiah larmar, an accomplished and able officer, to put a stop to them.  le
advanced against the hostile tribes with a force
amounting to fourteen hundred men; but, imprudently dividing his army, he was taken by surprise,
and defeated by a body of Indians led on by that san.
guinary and desperate warrior, the Little Turtle.*
General Harmar, having failed in his enterprise,
was succeeded by Major.general St. Clair, the
governor of the Northwestern Territory; and in
October, 1792, this officer advanced into the Indian
country with a force of about two thousand men.
* Stone.




172        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Warned as he was by the disaster that had proved
so fatal to his predecessor, he fell into an ambuscade that had been laid for him, where the Indians,
firing from behind their breastwork of fallen trees,
carried destruction into the American ranks, and
soon covered the ground with their dead. So sudden and unexpected was the attack, and so murderous the fire of the enemy, that the general was compelled to order a retreat, leaving his artillery in
the hands of the savages.
On account of these repeated disasters, it be.
came necessary to increase the army by enlistments, and to push a still stronger force against
the hostile Indian tribes. General Washington
therefore made the most strenuous efforts to effect
this object; but, owing to the panic produced by
the disastrous defeats of Ilarmar and St. Clair,
with but little success. There was, moreover, no
small opposition to the war; and additional measures were deemed necessary to bring it to a close.
In 1793 General St. Slair was succeeded by
General Anthony Wayne in the command of the
Western army. Advancing through the forest to
the spot which had been rendered memorable by
the defeat of St. Clair, he there constructed a fort
upon the site of the old fortification, and called it
Fort Recovery.* Situated in the midst of the
* Stone.




FORT DEPOSITE.            173
scene of former carnage, there might then have
been seen around it, under the trees and amid the
fallen logs, the bleached bones of those who had
been slain.
General Wayne soon reached the confluence of
the Au Glaize and Maumee Rivers, and found the
villages spread along the bottoms of the latter completely deserted. A short time afterward he arrived at the Rapids of the Maumee, and erected
there a fort about four miles above the British post,
which he called Fort Deposite, in which he placed
his stores and baggage. This British post, estab.
lished on American ground, had been fortified by
a detachment sent from Detroit the preceding
spring, and the Indians appeared to look upon it as
their last refuge in case they were attacked.
The British government had demanded, before
the treaty of 1783, as one of the conditions of
peace, the complete independence of the savage
tribes, with, of course, the power to grant their
lands to whomsoever they pleased.* The Americans having refused to accede to this condition, that
post was established on the banks of the Miami for
the purpose, it was believed, of countenancing the
Indians, and of actively supporting them should
they gain the ascendancy. General Wayne therefore felt it necessary to advance with the utmost
* Thatcher.




174        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
caution, as everything depended not only upon his
courage, but his prudence. He had been directed,
however, in case he was opposed by the British, to
treat them according to the usages of war.
The American commander was not long in coming up with his savage foe. The Indians regard.
ed him with great fear from his supposed cunning,
calling him the Blacksnake on that account; while
the American army, consisting of three thousand
men, no doubt presented a truly formidable appearance to them.
The Indian force, their whole strength being collected at this point, was in point of numbers about
the same. Most of the savages were naked, and
painted for battle. Stationed in a dense forest,
and protected by the rocky bank of the river and
a breastwork of fallen trees, they were disposed
in three lines within supporting distance of each
other.
Wayne's Legion consisted of two thousand regu.
lars and one thousand mounted militia, under General Scott, of Kentucky. The right flank of his
army rested on the river, a brigade of mounted
volunteers under General Todd occupied the left,
and General Babee, with his division, formed the
rear. Major Price was ordered to advance with a
select battalion of riflemen and reconnoitre, and, if
attacked, to retreat in pretended confusion, in order
to entice the enemy towards the main body, The




BATTLE OF THE MAUMEE.         175
stratagem proved successful; and while the savages were rushing forward and startling the wilderness with their yells of triumph, the American army
advanced against them with trailed arms, being ordered to press them with the bayonet, to rouse
them from their lurking-places, and deliver a close
fire upon their backs, so as to allow them no op.
portunity to escape. The Indians now began to
break, and retreated towards the walls of Fort
Maumee. While these events were taking place,
the gates of the fort had been shut, and the English within gazed with apparent indifference upon
the scene. In the action there was actually enga.
ged on the side of the savages a force from Detroit, headed by a prominent individual of that
place. General Wayne destroyed the Indian villages and the corn-fields on the banks of the Mau.
mee, and proceeded towards Fort Defiance.*
Before he left the battle-ground, however, he
paraded his force in front of the British post, that
they might see its strength, while he advanced with
his staff towards the glacis to examine the character
of the position, and to ascertain, as far as was pos.
sible, what were the intentions of the garrison.
The American officers, as they drew near, could
discover the British soldiers, with matches lighted
and standing by their guns, ready for any emer.
* Stone.
0




176        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
gency that might arise. Some attempts were made
by his officers to persuade the British commander
to revenge this insulting parade before his post by
allowing them to salute the Americans with a dis.
charge from their artillery. Nothing of this kind,
however, was permitted, though a correspondence
of no very friendly character took place. General
Wayne finally succeeded in concluding a treaty
with the Indians at Greenville, which effectually
broke up the confederacy.*
The settlements in Michigan up to this period
had advanced but slowly. The French Canadians
had extended their farms to a considerable distance
along the banks of the St. Clair; and on the Detroit River there were a few straggling French
settlements, as also on Otter Creek, and on the
rivers Rouge, Pointe aux Tremble, and other small
streams flowing into Lake Erie. Agriculture and
the fur.trade constituted nearly the entire occupa.
tion of the inhabitants.
Detroit and Frenchtown, both in the eastern part
of the peninsula, were at this time the only places
of much importance. The former was merely a
small cluster of rude wooden houses, defended by a
fort, and surrounded by pickets, and formed, as it
had long done, the principal dep6t for the fur-trade.
The population, independent of the soldiers of the
x See Appendix E.




SETTLEMENTS IN MICHIGAN.        177
garrison, consisted principally of Scotch, French,
and English merchants, who had removed here
after the conquest of the country, for the prosecu.
tion of that traffic. The goods required here were
obtained from Montreal, and bills of credit for
small sums, payable at that place or at Quebec,
were allowed to be issued by the merchants, on
condition of their giving security to double their
amount. Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, nov,
a place of considerable importance, consisted at
that time of only a few log cabins, erected by the
French on either bank of the river. Two Indian
villages, one occupied by the Ottawas, the other by
the Pottawatamies, stood on the present site of the
City of Monroe. Being a dep6t for the Northwestern Company, the surrounding Indians peri.
odically resorted there to exchange their furs and
peltry for cloths, beads, silver ornaments, firearms, ammunition, and such other articles as they
required. The French settlers in the vicinity also
disposed of their corn here in exchange for goods,
and from thence it was transported to the upper
lakes for the use of the traders.*
About this time a project was started, which, had
it been successful, would have been highly injurious to the interests of this part of the West. In
1795, Robert Randall, of Pennsylvania, and Charles
* Manuscripts from Detroit.




178        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Whitney, of Vermont, in connexion with several
merchants of Detroit, entered into a compact, the
object of which was to appropriate to themselves a
tract of territory comprising nearly twenty millions
of acres, situated between Lakes Erie, Huron, and
Michigan.* This was to be done by securing to
themselves the pre.emption right. The land was
to be divided into forty-one shares, five of which
were to be apportioned among the traders of Detroit who were parties to the agreement, six were to
be given to Randall and those associated with him,
and the remainder were to be distributed among
members of Congress who should exert their influence in procuring the passage of the necessary law.
The amount proposed to be paid for this vast tract
was from half a million to a million of dollars;
and it was believed that the merchants of Detroit
had sufficient influence with the Indians to induce
them to part with the land. In opposition to the
measure, it was represented that, under the treaty
of 1783, the right of purchase belonged exclusively
to the United States; while, on the other hand, it
was urged that the Indians were dissatisfied with
this treaty, and did not consider themselves bound
by it, and that the plan proposed would alone es.
tablish tranquillity among them, and secure peace
to the country. But, as soon as the corrupt char.
* Biddle's Discourse.




SURRENDER OF MACKINAW AND DETROIT. 179
acter of the plan was discovered, the two principal
projectors were brought before the bar of the
House of Representatives, when, on the hearing of
the evidence, Randall was discharged, but Whitney
was fined to the amount of the costs which had
accrued, and received a severe reprimand.*
The Indian power having been broken by
Wayne's victory, and the treaty of Greenville binding the savages from farther aggression, the island
of Mackinaw was at last surrendered, and Detroit
also given up, the retiring garrison, to show their
spite, locking the gates of the fort, breaking the
windows in the barracks, and filling the wells with
stones, in order to annoy the new occupants as
much as was in their power. The latter post was
soon after taken possession of by a detachment of
troops under the command of Captain Porter, and
the American flag hoisted on its ramparts for the
first time. Thus Michigan at last passed quietly
into the possession of the United States.
While the English held this country, Mackinaw
was the chief place of rendezvous for the Indians
and the traders of the Northwest Company. Start.
ing from this picturesque island in huge canoes,
propelled by the voyageurs, the merchants would at
tins sweep across the sparkling waters of those
inland seas, provided with the means of the most
* Biddle's Discourse.




180        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
luxurious revelry, and, encamping on their shores,
would there hold their feasts, surrounded by halfbred dependants, traders, and Indians.
While the French were in possession of this
country, as there was but little coin for general circulation, accounts were kept in beaver-skins or other furs reduced to their current value. The price
of beaver at Michilimackinac in 1765 was two shil.
lings and sixpence the pound, Michilimackinac cur.
rency; otter-skins were six shillings each, and martin-skins one shilling and sixpence. Ten beaver.
skins were given for a stroud blanket, eight for a
white blanket, two for a pound of powder, one for a
pound of shot or ball, twenty for a gun, two for an
axe of one pound weight, and one for a knife. The
notes and coin of Quebec were sometimes seen at
the lake posts, but not in sufficient quantity to be
relied on for a uniform currency.




CONDITION OF MICHIGAN.           181
CHAPTER VIII.
Condition of Michigan after the Surrender of the Posts.-Its
Erection into a Territory.-General Hull appointed Governor.
-Detroit destroyed by Fire.-Administration of the Law.Third Indian Confederacy under Tecumseh and the Prophet.
-Le Marquoit.-Land-office established.-Walk-in-the-Water.-Population in 1811.-Memorial from Michigan praying
Aid from the General Government.-Savage Outbreak.-Operations on the Wabash.-American Fur Company.
IT was a long time after this fertile but uncultiva.
ted territory came into the possession of the United
States before its character was materially changed.
The Canadian French continued to form the prin.
cipal part of its population.  The interior of the
country was but little known except by the Indians
and the traders, who explored it in the pursuit of
furs.  As the effect of transferring the jurisdiction
from France to England had been little more than
to change the garrisons from French to English,
and to give to the Hudson's Bay Company a mo.
nopoly of the fur-trade, so its surrender to the United States produced but little alteration in its general features.  As the Indian title was not fully
extinguished, no lands were brought into market,
and, consequently, the settlements proceeded but
very slowly.




1t 2       HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
In the division of the Northwestern Territory,
what is now the State of Michigan constituted a
single county, which received the name of Wayne.
It sent one representative to the Legislature of the
Northwestern Territory, which was held at Chilicothe. A Court of Common Pleas was organized
for the county, and the General Court of the whole
territory sometimes met at Detroit. No roads had
as yet been constructed through the interior, nor
were there any settlements except on the frontiers.
The habits of the people were essentially military,
and but little attention was paid to agriculture except by the French peasantry. In winter they
drove their carrioles over the ice with their Canadian ponies, that were of Norman stock, many
of which are now to be seen in this country; and
in summer they employed small wooden carts, well
adapted to the state of the roads, for the carriage
of their goods-vehicles that are still used.
The state continued to send a representative to
the General Assembly of the Northwestern Territory at Chilicothe until 1800, when. Indiana was
erected into a separate territory; and two years
afterward it was annexed to this new.formed territo'ry, and remained under its jurisdiction until 1805.
ill the month of January of that year it was erect-d into a separate territory, and William Hull was
appointed the first governor  The system of gov



MICHIGAN ERECTED INTO A TERRITORY. 183
ernment was somewhat peculiar, the executive
power being confided in the governor, the judicial
in three judges, who were authorized to "adopt
and publish" laws suited to the territory, and not
incompatible with the ordinance of 1787, and the
legislative power was exercised by the two jointly.
On the 25th of July of that year the territory was
livided into three districts, namely, Erie, Huron,
and Michilimackinac, for each of which a court was
established, to be held by one of the judges of the
Supreme Court of the territory, with exclusive jurisdiction in criminal matters, and also in all civil
cases above the sum of twenty dollars, those below
this sum being cognizable by justices of the peace.
A few years afterward it was divided into counties, in each of which was organized a County
Court.* The laws thus introduced were, as might
be expected, crude and ill digested, as is abundant.
ly attested by the records of the courts at that period, which are still preserved.
General Hull, when he arrived at Detroit to assume his official duties as governor of the territory,
found the town in ruins, it having been destroyed
by fire.t Whether this disaster had been occasioned by accident or design was not known.
However this may have been, as the town was
very compact, covering only two acres of ground,
* Territorial Laws.   t Biddle's Discourse.




184        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
and the materials were of the most combustible
nature, it was soon entirely consumed, and the
unfortunate inhabitants were obliged to encamp
in the open fields, almost destitute of food and
shelter. Still they were not discouraged, ahd soon
commenced rebuilding their houses on the same
site. The General Government also took their
case into consideration, and an act of Congress
was passed, granting to the sufferers the site of
the old town of Detroit, and ten thousand acres of
land adjoining it.
A judiciary system was now established, and the
territorial militia were organized. In October of
the same year a report was made to Congress of
the condition of the territory, and in May of the
following year a code of laws was adopted similar to those of the original states. This code
was signed by Governor Hull, Augustus B. Woodward and Frederic Bates, judges of the territory,
and was called the "Woodward Code."    The
bounds of the territorial government, as then established, embraced all the country on the American
side of the Detroit River, east of a north and south
line drawn through the centre of Lake Michigan.
The Indian land-claims had been partially extinguished previous to this period. By the treaty
of Fort M'Intosh in 1785, and that of Fort Har.
mar in 1787, extensive cessions had either been




SETTLEMENT OF LAND-CLAIMS.       185
made or confirmed, and in the year 1807 the Indian titles to several tracts became entirely extinct.
In consequence of the settlements which had
been made under the French and English govern.
ments, some confusion sprang up in regard to the
titles to valuable tracts that were claimed by different individuals under the French laws. Congress
accordingly passed an act establishing a board of
commissioners to examine and settle these conflict.
ing claims; and in 1807 another act was passed,
confirming to a certain extent the titles of all such
as had been in possession of the lands then occupied
by them from the year 1796, when the territory was
surrendered, up to the date of that act. Other
acts were subsequently passed, extending the same
conditions to the settlements on the upper lakes.*
In addition to their settlements along the shores
of the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, and the lake of
the latter name, where there was a continued line of
cottages, with farms adjoining, containing orchards
of pear and apple trees, planted, probably, in the
reign of Louis XIV., and the old posts on the island
of Mackinaw, at Ste. Marie and at St. Joseph, the
French colonists had a line of cabins on the River
Raisin, where the city of Monroe (then called
Frenchtown) now stands. The interior of the
country was but little known except by those who
* Biddle's Discourse.




186        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
were engaged in the fur-trade, and these were in.
terested in representing it in as unfavourable a
light as possible. The Indian titles to the land
had been but partially extinguished, and no portion
of the public domain had been yet brought into
market. But few American settlers had therefore
ventured into this region, though the adjoining State
of Ohio had already acquired a considerable population.*
The distance of this territory also, and the unsettled state of affairs along the western borders of
the lakes, necessarily prevented immigration. On
the opposite shore there was a jealous foreign pow.
er, and the interior of the country was occupied
by different savage tribes. The territory, too, had
but just emerged from an Indian war, and another
was evidently preparing. This third Indian confederacy was not only countenanced by the English, but directly instigated by them. The motives
which led to it, and the means resorted to to bring
it about, were the same as had proved successful
in exciting the former insurrections under Pontiac
and the Little Turtle. The old story was revived,
that the Americans were about to drive the Indians
from their lands that they might occupy them themselves. The chief projectors of this savage league
were Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet.
* Biddle's Discourse.




TECUMSEH AND THE PROPHET.       187
The warlike leader of the enterprise was Tecumseh, while the Prophet, whose Indian name was
Elkswatawa, was to operate on the minds of the
savages by means of superstition, and to excite in
them a spirit of fanaticism still more to inflame
their natural ferocity.
The disaffection of these tribes was certainly
what might have been expected. They saw a new
power encroaching upon the inheritance that had
been handed down to them from their ancestors,
introducing their hated cultivation upon their soil,
and rudely disturbing the graves of their dead.
It was not difficult, therefore, to unite them in one
last desperate struggle to resist this aggressive and
threatening power.
Their titles had been only very partially extinguished, and they complained that, where this had
been done, the treaties had been unfairly conduct.
ed; that the Indians had been deceived; that they
were in a state of intoxication at the time they
signed away their lands, and that, even under these
circumstances, only a part of the tribes had given
their consent. The dissatisfaction thus existing
among them was artfully fomented by the agents
of the Northwest Company, who foresaw that if
the Americans were permitted to occupy this country they would be cut off from a valuable portion
of their trade; while the English government.




188        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
which had ceded away this extensive tract without any very definite notions of its importance
or extent, looked with complacency on any at.
tempts made by the savages to retain it in their
hands. An overreaching spirit had doubtless actuated many of the pioneer settlers of the West,
and wrongs had been inflicted upon the Indians
which required correction. Taking advantage of
this, the traders, and the English generally, were
indefatigable in sowing the seeds of discontent
among the savage tribes; and it was contended that
they should hold the undisturbed possession of the
Northwestern Territory, without surrendering the
right of pre.emption to the United States.
The Prophet commenced his mission among the
tribes in 1806. Taking advantage of the superstitious notions of the Indians, he told them that
the Great Spirit had appeared to him in a dream,
and appointed him his agent upon the earth; and
that, as such, his own tribe, the Shawanese, being
the oldest tribe of the West, he was commanded to
direct them to form a general confederacy against
the United States. He had been instructed also, he
said, to proclaim to the red men that it was the will
of the Great Spirit that they should throw away the
arts of civilization, return to their skins for clothing,
and to their bows and war-clubs for arms, renounce
the intoxicating drinks of the white men for pure




INDIAN CONFEDERACY.          189
water, and, in a word, resume all the customs of
their ancestors. The Americans, he said, had
driven the Indians from the seacoast, and were
now preparing to push them into the lakes, so
that they had no alternative but to make a stand
where they were, and drive back these insatiable
intruders to the other side of the Alleghany Mount.
ains.
The plan of this league was in many respects
similar to that formed by Pontiac. Tecumseh'.
intention was to surprise the posts of Detroit, Fort
Wayne, Chicago, St. Louis, and Vincennes, and
to unite all the tribes from the borders of NewYork to the banks of the Mississippi.
As early as the year 1807, the Shawanese chief
and his brother the Prophet were actively engaged
in sending their emissaries, with presents and war.
belts, to the most distant tribes, to induce them to
join in the confederacy; and when the comet ap.
peared in 1811, the latter artfully turned it to account, by practising on the superstitions of the
savages.* Thus the fame and the influence of the,
Prophet spread rapidly among the tribes of the
Northwest.
On the 4th of May, a special mission, consisting
of deputies from the Ottawas, was sent to a distant
post upon the borders of Lake Superior, and a
Drake.




190        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
grand council being there assembled, it was ad.
dressed by Le Marquoit, or the Trout. He told
the Indians that he had been sent by the messen.
ger and representative of the Great Spirit, and
that he was commissioned to deliver to them a
speech from the " first man whom God had created,
said to be in the Shawanese country."*
He then informed them what were the instructions
of the Great Spirit in the succeeding address: "I
am the father of the English, of the French, of the
Spaniards, and of the Indians. I created the first
man, who was the common father of all these people as well as of yourselves, and it is through him,
whom I have awaked from his long sleep, that I now
address you. But the Americans I did not make.
They are not my children, but the children of the
Evil Spirit. They grew from the scum of the great
water when it was troubled by the Evil Spirit, and
the froth was driven into the woods by a strong
east wind. They are numerous, but I hate them.
My children, you must not speak of this talk to
the whites; it must be hidden from them. I am
now on the earth, sent by the Great Spirit to in.
struct you. Each village must send me two or
more principal chiefs, to represent you, that you
may be taught. The bearer of this talk must point
out to you the path to my wigwam. I could not
* American State Papers.




CONDITION OF DETROIT.         191
come myself to L'Arbre Croche, because the world
is changed from what it was. It is broken and
leans down, and as it declines the Chippewas and
all beyond will fall off and die; therefore you must
come to see me and be instructed. Those villages
which do not listen to this talk will be cut off from
the face of the earth.'"*
It was by such means that the savages were
roused to attack the frontier settlements of the
West, and afterward to unite with the English in
their war with the United States.
In consequence of these menacing movements
of the Indians, it was considered advisable to con.
struct a stockade around the town of Detroit for
its defence. The population was as yet small.
There had been, indeed, up to that time but little
to encourage the settlement of the country. The
land had not been offered for sale, and a great
portion of Western New-York was still unoccupied:
not a single steamer navigated the lakes, nor had
any roads been made into the interior.
Nor was the neighbourhood of Detroit without
symptoms of Indian disaffection. In September,
1809, a special council of the Hurons was called,
near Brownstown, and, at the instigation of their
principal chief, Walk-in.the-Water, they freely
spoke of their grievances to Governor Hull. The
* American State Papers.
P




192        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
speech addressed by this chief to the governor,
setting forth the title of his tribe to a large tract
of territory near the mouth of the Detroit River,
which was claimed by the United States under the
treaty of Greenville, shows how much dissatisfied
they were with this treaty, and with the encroach.
ments of the Americans upon their soil. In the
midst of all these evidences of discontent on the
part of the Indians, Michigan remained in a comparatively defenceless state. There were at this
time in the whole territory but nine settlements of
any importance; nor was the character of the
population at these points such that it could be
expected to oppose any very active resistance in
the conflict which seemed to be approaching.
These settlements were situated on the Rivers
Miami and Raisin, on the Huron of Lake Erie, on
the Ecorce, Rouge, and Detroit Rivers, on the
Huron of St. Clair, the St. Clair River, and the
island of Mackinaw; and, in addition to these,
there was here and there a group of huts belonging
to the French fur-traders. The villages upon the
Maumee, the Raisin, and the Huron of Lake Erie
contained a population of about thirteen hundred;
the post of Detroit, and the settlements on the Rivers Rouge and Ecorce, and on the Huron of St.
Cltir, numbered two thousand two hundred; the
island of Mackinaw, with the small detached log.




MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS.         193
houses, about a thousand: Detroit was garrisoned
by ninety-four men, and Mackinaw by seventy-nine.
Thus the entire population of the state was only
about four thousand eight hundred, four fifths of
whom were Canadian French, and the remainder
chiefly Americans, with a few English and Scotch.*
As there was no longer any doubt of the hostile
intentions of the savages, it was deemed prudent
to present a memorial to Congress, setting forth
the defenceless condition of the territory, and pray.
ing for aid from that body. Accordingly, on the
27th of December, 1811, such a petition was drawn
up, signed by the principal inhabitants of Detroit,
and forwarded to Washington.
The joint efforts of Tecumseh and the Prophet
were successful in drawing a large body of Indians,
probably not less than eight hundred, from the
shores of Lake Superior to the station of the latter
at Tippecanoe, though it is supposed that one third
of their number died of want and hardship on the
way.t Their plans were now nearly ripe for action, and parties of the Ottawas, the Miamis, the
Chippewas, the Wyandots, the Mississagies, the
Shawanese, and the Winnebagoes were to be seen
with their bodies painted for war, and again seizing the hatchet.
The first hostile demonstrations were made
* American State Papers.  t Schoolcraft.




194        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
against the French settlements, where bands of
savage warriors made their appearance, armed for
battle, and painted in the most hideous manner,
with feathers stuck in their hair, and strings of
bears' claws about their necks, entering the houses
by force, taking whatever they chose, and wantonly destroying with their tomahawks the beehives
in the gardens of the settlers. Near the banks of
the Kalamazoo, in the county of the same name, a
smith's forge had been set up, where hatchets and
knives were made for the approaching contest;
and at no great distance from it, in a retired spot,
surrounded by a dense forest, the Indian women,
with their children, had collected, for the purpose
of raising corn to furnish a supply of food for the
warriors.
Still more flagrant acts of aggression were perpetrated in the State of Indiana, where numerous
murders were committed, and horses and other
property stolen. It had been for some time noticed
that the savages were collecting about the Prophet's
station, apparently with no friendly design. A
conference was therefore held, in which it was insisted that these hordes should be made to return
to their homes, that the property which had been
stolen from the Americans should be restored, and
that the murderers should be given up,.
Tecumseh, on his part, denied that any league,




BATTLE OF THE WABASH.         195
such as was complained of, had been formed, and
protested that he and his brother had no other object in collecting the tribes together but to strength.
en the amicable relations between them, and to im.
prove their moral condition. In regard to the mur.
derers of the whites, who were alleged to have taken
refuge among his tribe, he denied that they were
there, saying, at the same time, that even if they
were, they ought to be forgiven, as he had forgiven
the whites who had murdered his own people in
Illinois.*
All their plans having been fully matured, the
contest at length began in earnest, on the banks of
the Wabash, at the Prophet's town; and, while the
battle was raging, the Prophet was seen on an adjoining eminence, singing a war.song, to inflame
with greater desperation the savage combatants.
It was now no longer doubtful that another fierce
and obstinate struggle was to be encountered.
The Indian warriors, excited by fanaticism and
a thirst for blood, in opposition to their chiefs, hastened from all sides towards the lake frontier to
join Tecumseh. Meanwhile, the English on the
opposite shores were looking with no small interest upon what was passing, regarding the savages
as important allies to their own cause in the conflict in which they expected shortly to be engaged.
* Thatcher.




196        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
" My son," said one of their agents to an Indian
chief, " keep your eyes fixed on me. My tomahawk is now up; be you ready, but do not strike
till I give the signal.""
The statement of the fact should not be omitted,
that about this time the American Fur Company was
formed, under the auspices of Mr. John Jacob Astor,
of New-York. Its operations were carried on much
after the manner of the old French and English
companies, by establishing chains of posts along
the lake shores. This company is still in existence, and annually collects a great quantity of furs,
which are sent by the way of the Mississippi or the
lakes to New.York, from whence a large part of
them  are exported to foreign countries.  This
company has also an extensive fishery on Lake
Superior, where they take great quantities of trout
and whitefish, which are salted, packed in barrels,
and sent to the different ports of the adjoining
country.t
* Dawson.               t Irving's Astoria.




WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN.            197
CHAPTER IX.
War declared between Great Britain and the United States.Representations of Governor Hull.-Appointed to Command
the Western Army.- Crosses to Sandwich and Addresses
the Canadians.-Policy of Prevost.-Surrender of Detroit.Tecumseh.-Conduct of Hull.-Expedition to the River Raisin.-Capture of Chicago. - Battle of the River Raisin.General Harrison's Campaign. - Commodore Perry. - His
Victory on Lake Erie.-General Harrison arrives at Maiden.
-Marches to Detroit.-Battle of the Thames.- Death of
Tecumseh.-His Character.-Attack on Mackinaw.-Peace
Concluded.
IN June, 1812, war was declared between Great
Britain and the United States.  Without entering
into particulars as to the causes of this war, suffice
it to say that it was chiefly provoked by the continued impressment of American seamen, the un.
just capture of American vessels, and the enforcement of illegal blockades.
Governor Hull, the year before, had represented
to the general government the exposed and de.
fenceless condition of Michigan. That the posts
at Detroit, Mackinaw, and Chicago were badly
fortified and with insufficient garrisons, while at
no great distance from them there was a large
body of British subjects, who could, in case of war,




198        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
be brought against them; that the whole Amer.
ican force consisted of but about five thousand men,
whereas the militia of Canada amounted to more
than one hundred thousand; and that the forests
about Detroit were filled with hostile savages, who
were secretly pledged to the confederacy of Tecumseh. This post he represented as of great
importance, inasmuch as it commanded a wide extent of country, and furnished a point of support for
operations against the Indians of the upper lakes.
He proposed, therefore, that a powerful naval armament should be equipped on Lake Erie, sufficient to command that inland sea, and to co-operate effectively with the force at Detroit; or, if
that were not done, that a strong detachment of
troops should be marched from Niagara, to act in
conjunction with those under his command in the
invasion of the British provinces.*
A body of troops was soon collected at Dayton,
in Ohio, consisting of about twelve hundred men,
raised by order of the President of the United
States, and their number was somewhat increased
by volunteers. These troops were formed into
three regiments, under the command of Colonels
M'Arthur, Finelly, and Cass, and a fourth regiment, about three hundred strong, under Col. Mil.
ler, afterward joined them, the whole being under
* American State Papers.




GENERAL HULL AT DETROIT.        199
the command of General Hull, the governor of
Michigan.
With this force General Hull marched from
Dayton towards Detroit, and soon arrived at the
Maumee of the lakes. The dense forests through
which they had to pass, wholly without roads, opposed formidable obstacles to their progress.  At
the rapids of the Maumee a vessel was procured
for the transportation of the sick soldiers, and of
such bulky articles as would encumber the army.
As this vessel was proceeding for Detroit by the
way of the channel leading to Maiden, she was
captured by the British, who communicated to
the Americans the first news of the declaration of
war.*
On the fifth of July General Hull arrived at Detroit, where his troops immediately set themselves
to work to prepare for the coming contest. Four
days afterward he received a communication from
the secretary of war, investing him with discretionary power either to seize Maiden and advance
into Canada, or to remain on the defensive. That
place formed the most prominent and commanding position upon this part of the lake coast, and
its possession would give him advantages in any
future operations against the provinces of Canada.
He therefore crossed the Detroit River with his
* Willard.




200         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
army, and established himself at Sandwich. From
his headquarters at this place he issued a proc.amation* addressed to the Canadians, setting forth
his objects in invading their country, and inviting
them to place themselves under the protection of
the United States; protesting, at the same time,
against the barbarity of employing the savages,
and threatening indiscriminate retaliation against
all who should be found fighting by their side.t
It was hoped that by this means the French Ca.
nadians would be induced either to join the Americans or remain neutral.
Many of the American officers were anxious to
proceed immediately to the attack of Maiden, but
it was determined to wait for heavy artillery to be
brought from Detroit. The army therefore re.
mained quietly at Sandwich, merely sending out
occasional foraging parties to procure provisions.
General Hull wished to ascertain what was the
actual state of things at Malden, and he accordingly detached Colonel Cass, with two hundred and
eighty men, to reconnoitre that position.  On
reaching the River Canard, he dislodged a picketguard of the enemy, killing ten of their number,
* This energetic and well-written address is said to hare
been from the pen of Governor, then Colonel, Cass. —See Ap
pendix F.
t Brannan's Official Letters.




SURRENDER OF MACKINAW.        201
and seizing the bridge which they had been stationed there to defend.  This bridge was only
about four miles from Maiden, and Colonel Cass
was anxious to keep possession of it, to aid them
in their contemplated attack upon that place.
This, however, was thought inexpedient by General Hull, as such a course, he said, would bring
on a general engagement, which he wished at that
moment to avoid, as his artillery had not yet ar.
rived, and a considerable detachment had been
sent away from his army.*
While the Americans were thus stationary at
Sandwich, a British force was despatched from the
Canada side to take possession of the island of
Mackinaw. The whole garrison of this post was
only fifty-seven men, under the command of Lieutenant Hanks; and the first intimation which this
officer received of the declaration of war was the
arrival of a body of British troops, supported by
more than a thousand Indian warriors, consisting
of Sioux, Winnebagoes, Talleswain Ottawas, and
Chippewas.  The savages, it appears, had been
directed, in case of resistance, to show no quarter,
and the odds being so fearfully against him, the
American officer immediately surrendered. A de.
tachment, under the command of Capt. Brush, had
been sent by'Governor Meigs, of Ohio, to escort
* Whiting's Discourse,




202        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
a quantity of provisions destined for the American army, and General Hull, being informed that a
body of Indians had left Malden to intercept this
convoy, despatched Major Van Horn, with two
hundred men, for its protection. On arriving at
Brownstown, this detachment was suddenly attacked by the savages, who, from behind a breastwork of logs and the trunks of trees, opened a
deadly fire upon the American troops.  Major
Van Horn, finding himself unable to contend
against the superior numbers of the enemy, retreated to Detroit, leaving eighteen of his men
dead on the field.*
The ordnance he was waiting for from Detroit
not having arrived, on the 8th of August General
Hull convened a council of war for the purpose of
deciding what should be done, when it was determined to remain two days longer, and at the expira.
tion of that time to make an attempt upon Malden
at all hazards. Information, however, having been
received in the mean time that the garrison at
Maiden had been re.enforced, General Hull changed
his resolution, withdrew his army from the British
territory, and retired to Detroit. The reasons he
assigned for so unexpected a movement were, that
General Brock was on his way to Malden with a
considerable body of fresh troops; that his commu* Whiting's Discourse.




BATTLE OF MONGUAGON.         203
nication with Detroit was in danger of being cut
off; and that the savage bands from the upper
lakes, having no farther occupation in that quar.
ter, would soon be pouring down upon him.
As it was important to open a communication
with the River Raisin, that the army might receive
the supplies sent from Ohio, six hundred men, under
Lieutenant-colonel Miller, had been detached by
General H-ull for that object the day that he crossed
the Detroit River to Frenchtown. Scarcely had
this body reached Monguagon, when they were at.
tacked by a superior force of British and Indians,
the latter led on by Tecumseh, who opened upon
them a destructive fire from their usual lurking.
places behind trees and fallen timber, and in thickets
of brushwood. The enemy being protected by a
dense forest on the left, Colonel Miller advanced
into it with his whole line, ordering his men to deliver a single fire, and then charge with the bayonet.
This was gallantly done, and the British, as well
as their savage allies, gave way before the fury of
the onset. But, though thrown into confusion and
broken, they still continued to fight with the utmost
desperation. Tecumseh, although wounded, was
seen in the thickest of the battle, and his shrill war.
cry was heard above the fire of the musketry. An
Indian, whose leg had been broken by a musketball, while writhing with the agony of his wound,




204        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
loaded his rifle and shot an American horseman.
Many of the savages had stationed themselves in
the tops of the trees, from which they discharged
their rifles and arrows with deadly aim. The
British force was commanded by Major Muir, of
the forty-first regiment, and was four hundred
strong without the Indians. The American loss
in the action was ten non.commissioned officers
and privates killed and forty-five wounded of the
regular troops, and eight killed and forty.five
wounded of the Ohio and Michigan volunteers.
The British retreated under the cover of their
armed vessels, which were anchored in the Detroit
River, while the savages scattered themselves in
the woods.
It was now determined to bring in the supplies
needed for the army by a more circuitous route,
and Colonels M'Arthur and Cass, with three hundred and fifty of the best troops, were detached
from Detroit on the 13th of August for that object.
On the 14th the British General Brock arrived
at Malden, and, advancing immediately to Sandwich with all his forces, the following day he
summoned General Hull to surrender. " It is far
from my intention," he said, "to join in a war of
extermination, but you must be aware that the
numerous body of Indians who have attached themselves to my troops will be beyond my control the




GENERAL BROCK AND TECUMSEH.      205
moment the contest commences." To this menace
the American general answered, " I have no other
reply to make than that I am prepared to meet
any force which may be at your disposal."
The character of General Hull seems to have
been well understood by the British commander.
Indeed, in addition to the evidence he had given of
indecision in not advancing against Malden, it was
alleged that a portion of his correspondence, found
on board an American vessel captured near that
place, but too clearly evinced a want of those qual.
ities which should distinguish a military commander.*
Tecumseh, with his warriors, was at this time
with the British general, to aid him in his projected
attack upon the American post; and the latter,
being anxious to acquire some knowledge of the
country around Detroit, that he might avail himself
of it in case he should from any cause be obliged
to retreat into the neighbouring forest, applied to
this chief for information. Tecumseh took a strip
of elm bark, stretched it upon the ground, and
placed a stone upon each corner. Then with his
scalping knife he delineated upon it an accurate
representation of the country, with its swamps,
woods, and rivers. Pleased with this display of
ingenuity, and to show his gratitude for the impor* Whiting's Discourse.




206        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
tant services which this renowned chief had rendered to the British cause, Brock took his sash from
his waist and presented it to him. The savage,
however, would not wear it, but gave it to the
Wyandot chief Round-Head, " because," said he,
"he is an older and better warrior than I am."
Before the British crossed to the American side,
their commander expressed a hope that the In.
dians, in case Detroit was taken, would not mas.
sacre the defenceless inhabitants. " No," answer.
ed Tecumseh; " I despise them too much to have
anything to do with them."
As soon as he received the refusal to capitulate,
Brock commenced a cannonade upon the American
fort from across the river. This was answered
from the opposite shore with considerable effect.
An armed vessel being now seen about a mile be.
low Detroit, it was supposed that the British in.
tended to cross there, and Captain Snelling was
detached with a body of troops to prevent it. It
was suggested at the same time that a single piece
of heavy ordnance would compel the British armed
vessel to remove from her position, and keep the
enemy from landing. This advice was, however.
disregarded, and Captain Snelling was recalled to
the fort by break of day.*
Very early on the morning of the 16th, the whole
* Whiting's Discourse.




COWARDICE OF GEN. HULL.        207
British force was seen slowly crossing the river,
under cover of their armed vessel, and they soon
landed, and advanced to Springwells without opposition. Here they halted, while the British general
sent a second summons to the commander of the
American post to surrender. It was not long,
however, before the enemy was again seen ad.
vancing, his force being composed of regulars, and
of volunteers dressed in British uniforms, approaching nearer and nearer, as they moved deliberately
through the forest bordering on the river, supported by their Indian allies under Maissot, Walk-in.
the-Water, and Tecumseh. The American sol.
diers were impatiently waiting for orders to fire
upon the advancing column, when all at once a
white flag was hoisted upon the walls of the fort.
General Hull, with cannon planted, and poised to
carry destruction into the ranks of the enemy, with
a force which, to say the least, could have success.
fully resisted any immediate attack, suddenly gave
orders that the detachments posted outside of the
pickets and those on the ramparts should retire
within the fort. Detroit, in a word, was given up
without a shot being fired. The American soldiers
dashed their muskets upon the ground in an agony
of mingled shame and indignation. The regular
troops were surrendered as prisoners of war, all
the public property was given up, and no stipula.
Q




208        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
tions were made in behalf of the Canadian allies.
The honour of the American arms was tarnished,
and General Hull was disgraced forever. The
detachments under Colonel Cass and Captain Brush
had been included in the capitulation, but they fortunately escaped the disgrace that had been prepared for them.
General Hull was tried for treason and cowardice before a court-martial, and, though -acquitted
on the first charge, was convicted on the second,
and sentenced to be shot; but, in consideration of
his former services in the war of the Revolution, he
was pardoned by the president.*
There would seem to be no doubt that the conduct of General Hull was not that of a brave and
efficient officer. He neglected to advance into
Canada when he might have done so with a fair
prospect of success; he evinced a want of firmness in resisting the enemy; and, finally, he gave
up an important post, that was prepared for a siege,
without firing a gun in its defence; surrendering, at the same time, the entire territory under
his charge.
On the other hand, it has been said in his defence that he was in the midst of an immense wilderness, filled with savages, where he was cut off
from all aid from the East. It has been alleged,
* Whiting's Discourse.




SURRENDER OF CHICAGO.        209
too, that a spirit of insubordination prevailed among
the militia, and that party strife among them ran
high. But we would draw a veil over the subject.
This much is in his favour, that the verdict of the
court exonerated him from the guilt of treason,
whatever might have been the verdict of his country.
Meantime, the military post of Chicago also
capitulated. Influenced by a fear of the hostile
Indians on the borders of Lake Michigan, General
Hull had, on the first breaking out of the war, or.
dered Captain Heald, the commander of this post,
to abandon it and retire to Fort Wayne. A large
body of savages had collected around it, and they
were promised all the surplus stores if they would
abstain from harassing the detachment on its withdrawal from the fort. There was among these
stores a quantity of powder and whiskey, either of
which it was thought imprudent to relinquish to the
Indians; the former was accordingly deposited in
a well, and the latter thrown away. The savages,
however, found out what had been done, and they
were perceived collecting around the fort, apparent.
ly with hostile intentions. The garrison, consisting of fifty-four regulars and twelve militiamen, ac.
companied by twelve families who had fled there
for protection, retired from the post, and had not
proceeded more than half a mile when they were
attacked by the savages. Having imprudently




210        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
destroyed the means of defending themselves, they
were soon compelled to surrender, which they did
not do, however, until about half their number had
been killed, and several of the women and children.
Tile prisoners were distributed among the neighbouring tribes, and on the following morning the
fort was set on fire and burned to the ground.
Being now in possession of Michigan, the British
established a provisionary government at Detroit,
the savages, meanwhile, being permitted at pleasure
to ravage the frontier settlements and insult the
defenceless inhabitants.
But, although the British arms had been thus far
successful, it was determined to wrest from them
the advantages they had gained. Accordingly,
three separate armies were assembled: that of the
North, stationed upon the shores of Lake Champlain, and under the command of General Hampton; that of the centre, between Lakes Ontario
and Erie, under General Dearborn; and that of
the West, under General Harrison, to take up its
position at the head of Lake Erie. The protection
of the Michigan frontier, therefore, devolved more
immediately upon the latter.* The defence of
Upper Canada was at this time committed to Col.
onels Proctor and Vincent, and that of the lower
province to General Sheaffe, under the direction of
the governor-general of the provinces.
* Whiting's Discourse,




ENCAMPMENT AT FRENCHTOWN.        211
General Harrison lost no time in marching his
army towards the lake frontier. He sent forward
a detachment of his forces to Presque Isle, to wait
there for the arrival of the main body; and General Winchester, with eight hundred Kentuckians,
was ordered to advance to Frenchtown, on the
River Raisin, where he arrived on the 13th of January.
This officer took up a position on the French.
town side of the river, close to its banks. Sentinels
were placed around the encampment, and the night
being cold, the troops spent the greater part of it
in ranging about the village. During the evening,
a French Canadian from Maiden gave information
that a body of British and Indians, amounting in all
to about three thousand men, were preparing to
start from that place for the River Raisin soon after
he left. No notice, however, was taken of this intelligence, from a belief that it was without any
foundation, and, consequently, no precautionary
measures were adopted, the main road by which
alone the enemy could pass being left entirely
unguarded. So completely unapprehensive, indeed,
was the American commander of any danger, that
he had taken lodgings on the opposite bank of the
river, at the house of a Frenchman.
Early on the morning of the 22d of January,
just after the reveille had been beat, a rapid fire of




212        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
musketry was heard from the sentinels. The enemy, it appears, had arrived without being observed
during the night) and taken up a position behind a
small ravine, from which he now opened a tremendous fire of shells, and of grape and cannon shot,
upon the American camp. The consternation oi
the Americans was greatly increased by the advance of the British troops under Proctor, and by
the fiendish yells of the savages. A general panic
ensued, and great numbers were cut down. In
the mean time, General Winchester arrived from
the opposite shore, and attempted to rally his re.
treating soldiers; but, exposed as they were to a
heavy fire from the enemy, they continued to fall
back. Orders were then given to incline towards
the centre, and retire within the pickets of their
camp. These orders, however, appear not to have
been heard, and the troops, pressed by the bayonets
of the British regulars, and attacked by the savages on their right, retreated in great confusion
upon the ice across the river.*
An attempt was now made to re-enforce the right
wing, but without success. Owing to the suddenness of the attack, and the want of all preparation
to meet it, there was neither system, discipline, nor
obedience. The savages had posted themselves
along the edge of the surrounding forest, at every
* Dawson.




SURRENDER OF FRENCHTOWN.        213
point where there was any chance for retreat.
They also completely commanded the long narrow
lane leading to the village, and here great numbers
of the Americans were killed. On the borders of
the wood, the two chiefs Round.Head and SplitLog urged on their warriors to the commission of
the most frightful cruelties, and here the tomahawk
and scalping-knife were dyed in blood. Colonel
Allen was shot down, but Majors Graves and
Madison continued gallantly to maintain their position within the pickets against all the attacks of
the British, supported by their savage allies. Gen.
eral Winchester had in the mean time been taken
prisoner; and not long after, a flag arrived from
the British lines with orders addressed to Major
Madison from that officer to cease hostilities, and
surrender his troops prisoners of war. To this the
former replied, that as the Indians were in the
habit of massacring their prisoners, he would agree
to no capitulation unless the safety of his men was
first expressly guarantied. The surrender was
finally adjusted upon the conditions that the lives of
the soldiers should be protected, that individual
property should be held sacred, that sleds should
be sent the next morning with the wounded to Amherstburgh, and that the sidearms of the officers
should be restored at Malden. The battle-field
was covered with the lifeless forms of the brave




214        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Kentuckians, who but a few hours before were
seen full of hope, and glowing with all the ardour
of patriotism. The painted savage and the British
regular, the ardent and chivalrous son of high
promise, who had been nursed in the lap of luxury,
and the hardy yeoman, with his sleeves bared for
battle, as they had been before rolled up while
guiding the plough across his peaceful prairies, lay
side by side on this field of death.*
Shortly after the action, Colonel Proctor marched
away with his regular troops and most of his savage allies, the remainder being left to guard the
prisoners. At about sunrise the next morning,
however, most of the Indians were seen coming
back, painted in the most hideous manner, and in
a state of intoxication. It was not long before
they set up their horrid yells, and, rushing into the
houses where the wounded prisoners were lying,
they tore from them their blankets, and then despatched them with their tomahawks.  Among
these unhappy men there was a young Kentuckian
of extraordinary beauty. Struck with his perfect
proportions and manly grace, a chief claimed him
as his prize, and led him in triumph, and in seeming admiration, through the village. But this was
only in mockery of his victim; the tomahawk was
commissioned to do its horrid work, and his cluster.
* Dawson.




MASSACRE AT FRENCHTOWN.         215
ing ringlets were soon seen waving from the scalp.
stick of the merciless savage.
Most of the prisoners were confined in two
houses. These the savages set on fire, and, as their
victims attempted to escape from the windows,
they pushed them back into the flames. Major
Woolfolk, General Winchester's secretary, was
shot dead in the street; and, to complete the atrocity
of this bloody transaction, the bodies of those who
were slain were left where they fell, to feed the
wolves of the neighbouring forest. The condition
of such of the prisoners as escaped immediate death
was not much better. These were marched to.
wards Malden; and as soon as, from fatigue and
exhaustion, they were unable to proceed farther,
they were immediately despatched, and their bodies left unburied.
Meantime General Harrison was in Ohio, ma.
king every effort in his power to overcome the diffi.
culties by which he was surrounded. Michigan,
from the nature and position of the country, separated as it was by a dense forest from the inhabited portions of the United States, and occupied by
savage tribes hostile to their cause, was a con.
quest of great value to the British. It gave them
the command, too, of the posts on the upper lakes,
and thus they were enabled to control the resources
of the vast tract of territory along those inland
R




216        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
seas, and of the country extending from the western
borders of Indiana and Illinois to the mouth of the
Maumee.
Thus completely in the possession of the British
and Indians, and protected by the intervening forests, Lake Erie seemed to be the only channel by
which Michigan could be approached with a prospect of recovering it from the enemy. It became,
therefore, an object of great importance to obtain
the mastery on that lake, which was then commanded by an English fleet under Commodore
Barclay.
At this conjuncture, Oliver Hazard Perry, a
young officer twenty-eight years of age, then in
charge of a flotilla of gun-boats at Newport, anxious to obtain more active service, turned his attention to this lake; and his views having been
approved of by the naval department, he proceeded
without loss of time to the port of Erie, for the
purpose of building and equipping a fleet there,
sufficiently powerful to give him the command of
its waters.* A braver or more efficient officer
could have been nowhere found. He was in the
prime of early manhood, active, vigorous, and intelligent, generous and self-sacrificing even to a
fault, and possessed of those fine moral traits which
gave a finish to his character, and admirably har* Cooper.




VICTORY OF PERRY.          217
monized with the manly beauty of his person. He
laboured with indefatigable zeal to hasten the construction and equipment of his vessels, and, after encountering and overcoming every kind of discouragement, he at length found himself in the command
of a sufficient force to meet the enemy. As, however, there was a difficulty in crossing the bar at
the mouth of the harbour, and he was closely
watched by the British commander, he remained
quietly at anchor in port until a favourable opportunity should occur to sally forth. At length the
fortunate moment arrived, and the American fleet
was got safely over the bar, and made its way to.
wards the upper end of the lake. On reaching
Put-in Bay, Captain Perry there came to anchor,
impatient for an opportunity to measure his strength
with the enemy, and to wrest from him the superiority on this inland sea.
On the 10th of September, at dawn of day, as
their anchors were apeak, and the crews of the
different vessels were shaking out their topgallantsails, the enemy were seen bearing down, under
light sail, in order of battle, with their hulls newly
painted, and the crimson flag of England waving
at their mastheads. The British fleet, consisting
of the ships Detroit, carrying nineteen guns, the
Queen Charlotte, of seventeen guns, the schooner
Lady Prevost, of thirteen guns, the brig Hunter, of




218        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
ten guns, the sloop Little Belt, of three guns, and
the schooner Chippewa, of one gun and mounting
two swivels, was commanded by a veteran officer
of tried skill and valour.
The British vessels no sooner made their ap.
pearance than the American fleet prepared for ac.
tion and stood out upon the lake. It consisted of
the brigs Lawrence, of twenty guns; Niagara, of
twenty guns; Caledonia, of three guns; the schooners Ariel, of four guns; Scorpion, of two guns;
Somers, of two guns; the sloop Trippe, of one gun;
and the schooners Tigress and Porcupine, each
of one gun.*
While the two fleets were thus approaching each
other, the savages were not idle. Tecumseh had
stationed himself with a band of warriors upon
the island at the mouth of the Detroit River, waiting with intense interest the issue of the contest.
No sooner was any change made in the movements
of the hostile squadrons, than he paddled swiftly
over to Maiden to communicate the fact. From
the first roar of their guns he predicted the success of the English, and was greatly surprised
when the news was brought to him that they had
struck their colours to the Americans.
The order of battle decided on by Commodore
Perry was to attack the Detroit, the British flag* Cooper.




BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.         219
ship, himself with the Lawrence, to oppose the
Niagara to the Royal Charlotte, and the rest of his
fleet was ordered to act as circumstances might
require, and assail the enemy as they should be
directed by signals, while the Ariel and Scorpion
were instructed to take a position on the weatherbow and ahead of the Lawrence, in order to draw
off a portion of the fire from that ship.
As the two fleets neared each other, the action
was commenced by the enemy's flag-ship, the Detroit, she being mounted with long guns, while the
American vessels had only short pieces. The
American commander, resolved to capture the hostile fleet or perish in the attempt, bore down direct.
ly for the Detroit, making signals at the same time
for all his vessels to come into close action. Owing
to causes which are not very clearly understood,
the Niagara did not bear down to his aid. Still he
was undaunted, although alone, and exposed to
nearly the whole of the enemy's fire. Ranging
along the front of their squadron, single and unsupported, he successively poured upon their ships
from the battery of the Lawrence tremendous
broadsides of ball and grape, while he received
from them, in return, a no less destructive fire,
which shivered his spars, and covered his decks
with wounded and dead. Such a fire no single
vessel could long withstand. The hull of his ship




220        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
was pierced in every direction, twenty-one of his
men had been killed, sixty-one were wounded, and
only fifteen remained who were capable of duty.
All of his cannon except one had been dismounted, and this he continued to work with his own
hands.*
His ship being thus a complete wreck, and incapable of being longer defended, he determined
to abandon her; and ordering his boat, amid a
shower of shot he proceeded to the Niagara, which
vessel then lay at a considerable distance, and had
not been yet brought into close action. Meeting
Captain Elliott at the gangway, he requested him
to take the boat in which he had come and bring
up the rest of the vessels, while he himself would
bear down upon the enemy with the Niagara. The
flag of the Lawrence now came down, amid the
cheers of the British sailors, who supposed that the
American fleet had struck. Ordering every sail
on board the Niagara to be set, he was not long in
closing with the enemy's ships; and passing along
their line, he poured upon them, in quick succession,
tremendous broadsides. Having driven the Royal
Charlotte out of line, he next attacked the Detroit,
and by the severity of his fire drove her men from
their quarters. Captain Elliott now came up with
the smaller vessels, and, taking a raking position
* Slidell's Naval Sketches,




SURRENDER OF THE BRITISH FLEET. 221
under the stern of the Detroit, assisted to complete
the victory. The slaughter on board this ship was
dreadful: twenty.seven of her men had been killed
and ninety-six wounded. At length a white handkerchief was hung out on the end of a boardingpike as a signal of surrender; the triumph was
complete, and all the vessels of the enemy were
taken. The dead of both fleets were buried on an
island in the lake.
The conduct of Perry was no less distinguished
by humanity after the action than it had been by
skill and bravery while the battle was raging; and
the British commander long afterward expressed
his grateful recollection of the generous courtesy
of his youthful conqueror. It is thus that the
horrors of war are in some degree softened by a
display of the kindlier feelings of our nature.*
This brilliant success gave to the Americans the
uncontrolled command of the lake, and on the 23d
of September their fleet landed twelve hundred
men near Maiden. Colonel Proctor, however, had
previously evacuated that post, after setting fire to
the fort and to the public storehouses. Commodore Perry in the mean time passed up to Detroit
with the Ariel, to assist in the occupation of that
town, while Captain Elliott, with the Lady Prevost,
* See Mackenzie's Life of Perry, vol. ii.




222         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
the Scorpion, and the Tigress, advanced into LaKe
St. Clair to intercept the enemy's stores.*
Thus General Harrison, on his arrival at Detroit
and Maiden, found both places abandoned by the
enemy, and was met by the Canadians asking for
his protection. Tecumseh proposed to the British commander that they should hazard an engage.
ment at Maiden; but the latter foresaw that he
should be exposed to the fire of the American fleet
in that position, and therefore resolved to march
to the Moravian towns upon the Thames, near St.
Clair Lake, above Detroit, and there try the chance
of a battle.
His force at this time consisted of about nine
hundred regular troops, and fifteen hundred Indians commanded by Tecumseh. The American
army amounted to two thousand seven hundred
men, of whom one hundred and twenty were regulars, a considerable number militia, about thirty
Indians, and the remainder Kentucky riflemen, well
mounted, and mainly young men, full of ardour,
and burning with a desire to revenge the massacre
of their friends and relatives at the River Raisin.
The American general lost no time in seeking
the enemy, whom he found drawn up in order of
battle, and prepared to receive him. On his right,
in a swamp, was posted Tecumseh with his Indian
* Cooper.




BATTLE OF THE THAMES.         223
warriors, while the space between them and the
river was occupied by the regular troops. The
American general extended his line to the same
length with that of the British infantry, his small
body of regulars he ordered to seize the enemy's
artillery, and the few friendly Indians were direct.
ed to act on his flank.*
It had been determined to penetrate the swamp
and turn the right of the Indians, as they could
not cross the river, and the infantry were on the
point of making this movement, when it was ascertained that the British were drawn up in a
double line, and that, to enable them to occupy the
whole space between the swamp and the river,
they had been obliged to open their files. The
plan of attack was therefore changed, and Colonel
Johnson, with his mounted Kentuckians, was ordered to charge the enemy in front. These brave
volunteers rushed upon the British column with
such impetuosity that, unable to resist the fierce.
ness of the onset, it broke and fled. Cleared of
the regular force of the enemy, the battle-field now
exhibited a series of personal encounters between
the Kentuckians and Indians. Tecumseh, being
wounded, it is said, and exasperated to desperation
by the flight of his allies, resolved to sell his life
as dearly as possible. Rushing, therefore, into the
* Willard.




224        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
hottest of the conflict, he soon fell, pierced by a
pistol-ball, and instantly expired.
This renowned chief deserves a passing notice.
He possessed a noble figure, his countenance was
strikingly expressive of magnanimity, and he was
distinguished by moral traits far above his race.
He was not remarkable for eloquence or even for
intellect, but he was a warrior in the broadest Irndian sense of the word. Without the far-reaching
views of Pontiac or his hereditary rank, still, in
sudden action and desperate valour, he showed
himself superior to that chief; and, though a new
man, he acquired unbounded influence, and placed
himself above all competitors as the great cham.
pion of Indian rights.  While his brother, the
Prophet, was the principal manager of the confederacy in all that related to its organization and
plans, he was its executive arm in the field. There
were other peculiarities by which he was no less
distinguished. Like Pontiac, he manifested a deep
interest in regard to the manners and customs of
the whites; he would not sanction the barbarities
practised by the Indians, and he disdained the personal adornments in which they so much delight.
Although holding the rank of a brigadier-general
in the British service, he pertinaciously adhered to
his Indian garb; a deerskin coat, with leggins of
the same material, was his constant dress, and in




HARRISON AND PERRY'S PROCLAMATION. 225
his he was found dead at the battle of the Thames.
During the latter years of his life he was almost
incessantly engaged either in the council or at the
head of his warlike bands, and he sunk at last on
the field of his glory, with tomahawk in hand and
the cry of battle upon his lips.
"Like monumental bronze, unchanged his look,
A soul which pity touch'd, but never shook;
Train'd, from his tree-rock'd cradle to his bier,
The fierce extremes of good and ill to brook;
Unchanging, fearing but the shame of fear,
A stoic of the woods, a man without a tear."
With the death of Tecumseh the confederacy
was dissolved, and a peace was concluded with the
Ottawas, Chippewas, Miamis, and Pottawatamies.
The American fleet was now employed in removing the ammunition and stores from the cap.
tured British posts; and on the 18th of October
General Harrison and Commodore Perry issued a
joint proclamation at Detroit for the better government of the territory of Michigan, and guaranty.
ing to the inhabitants their rights of property, and
the enjoyment of their ancient usages and laws.
The island of Mackinaw was now the only part
of the territory remaining in the possession of the
enemy. This being a post of great importance,
from its commanding the upper lakes, and being
the centre of the fur-trade, a fleet under Commo.
dore Sinclair, with a body of land forces under




226        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Colonel Croghan, the gallant defender of Sandusky,
was despatched in July, 1814, for the purpose of
capturing it. After reconnoitring the coast near
the island, the commodore proceeded to the neigh.
bouring island of St. Joseph, where he destroyed
a few trading-posts and then returned.
Meanwhile, the British commandant was actively
employed in strengthening his defences, and in
summoning to his aid the nearest savage tribes.
It was at first proposed to attack the post near the
village, as that part was the most free from trees,
and, consequently, afforded less covert to the Indians. This, however, was objected to by Sinclair,
as his fleet would be here exposed to the fire of the
fort. It was finally concluded to land on the north.
eastern side of the island, although from this point
they would be obliged to traverse its whole breadth,
through a dense forest, in order to reach the British
position. After marching some distance through
the wilderness, on arriving at a small clearing, the
detachment was fired on from all sides by the savages stationed in the surrounding woods. Major
Holmes, at the head of a considerable force, was
directed to charge the enemy; but, as he was gallantly executing the order, he was shot down by a
rifle.ball. The fire, indeed, was so destructive,
that the advanced party was obliged to retreat to
the main body, upon which the whole force retired




CLOSE OF THE WAR.           227
to their boats, abandoned the enterprise, and returned to Detroit. In consequence of this failure,
the British retained possession of Mackinaw until
the conclusion of peace.
The victory of Commodore Perry having secured
the command of Lake Erie, Proctor's army having
been routed and the Indian confederacy broken up,
nothing of special interest transpired in Michigan
during the remainder of the war. Colonel Cass
was left with a brigade for the protection of the
territory, which he effectually accomplished, until
the treaty of peace, concluded at Ghent on the 17th
of February, 1815, put an end to all farther hos.
tilities.




228         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
CHAPTER X.
Lewis Cass appointed Governor of the Territory.-Its Condition
at that Time.-Public Lands brought into Market.-First
Steamboat on the Lakes.-University Founded.-Expedition
to Explore the Lakes.-The Clinton Canal.-Mr. Porter appointed Governor.-Mode of making Surveys.-Controversy
with Ohio.-Mr. Mason elected Governor.-State Organized.
-internal Improvements.-Education.-Conclusion.
MICHIGAN now emerged into a new existence.
Colonel Cass, who had served with great credit
during the war, was appointed governor of the
territory, and under his administration it gradually
advanced in prosperity.
Hitherto there had been but little inducement for
immigration from the East: the public lands had
not been brought into the market, and recently the
country had been suffering under the devastation
of war. The beautiful oak-openings on the Kalamazoo, the fertile tracts on the borders of Grand
River, the prairies of the St. Joseph, and the rich
and inviting slopes along the shores of Lake Michigan, were traversed only by the wild beast and the
savage, and the streams navigated only by the
bark canoe. The feeble settlements on the frontier
had been converted into scenes of desolation; no




CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY.        229
roads through the interior had been constructed;
and the cnly access to the country by land from
the East wan through the trackless wilderness distinguished by the name of the Black Swamp, and
by the military road along the Detroit River.
Everything, therefore, was to be done to develop
the resources of the territory, and to secure to it
the advantages which, from its position and the fertility of its soil, it was entitled to enjoy.
It would appear, however, that the character of
the country in regard to the latter particular was
at that time but little understood, as is shown by
the following fact. In 1812, Congress had passed
an act providing for the survey of the bounty-lands
to he granted to the soldiers enlisting for the war
which had then just commenced, and this survey
was directed to be made in the territory of Michi
gan. The persons employed for this object, how.
ever, made so unfavourable a report in regard to
the soil, representing it as marshy and everywhere
steril, that in 1816 the act was repealed, and the
quantity of land required for this purpose was ordered to be surveyed in Arkansas and Illinois.
The surveyors either did not make a thorough
examination of the soil, or, what perhaps is more
probable, they were deceived by the sandy nature
of the oak-lands, which have a yellowish colour
before they are brought into cultivation, but which,




230        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
from the quantity of lime they contain, turn black
after they are exposed to the action of the sun
and air by the plough.
During that year, however, and the two follow.
ing, the country was more fully explored, and numerous tracts of fertile land, with a rolling surface,
variegated by groves and lakes, were discovered.
These lands were forthwith surveyed, and in 1817
and 1818 portions of them were offered for sale,*
showing the superiority of our enlightened and
liberal laws, contrasted with the narrow policy of
the former possessors of the soil. A great change
now took place in public opinion in regard to the
value of these lands, and subsequent surveys more
fully confirmed the inaccuracy of the impressions
which had hitherto prevailed in relation to them.
With the introduction of steam navigation upon
its vast inland seas, a new era may be said to have
commenced in the history of the progress of the
West. This was in 1819, when the first steamboat, the Walk-in-the-Water, made her appearance
on Lake Erie, crossing that lake and passing up
to Mackinaw.t
By the census taken about that time, the population of Michigan was ascertained to be eight thou.
sand eight hundred and ninety-six. Detroit con.
tained two hundred and fifty houses, and fourteen
* Biddle's Discourse.      t Schoolcraft.




UNIVERSITY PROJECTED.        231
hundred and fifteen inhabitants, independent of
the garrison. The island of Mackinaw, which con.
tinued to be a central mart for the fur-trade, had a
stationary population of four hundred and fifty,
which was at times increased to not less than two
thousand by the Indians and traders who resorted
there from the upper lakes. The settlement at
the Sault de Ste. Marie contained only fifteen or
twenty houses, occupied by French and English
families.
Although, by the ordinance of 1787, lot number
16 was directed to be reserved in every township
for the support of common schools, no measures
had yet been taken to introduce a system of public
instruction, if we except the act passed by the governor and judges in 1817 for the establishment of
what was styled in it the Catholepestemiad, or Uni.
versity of Michigan. This act, which was drawn
up by Augustus B. Woodward, chief justice of the
territory, is a very curious document. He was a
gentleman possessing extensive acquirements, but
was not a little eccentric in his character, and the
views he entertained on this and some other subjects were certainly not very practical. The phra.
seology of the act is not its least singular feature,
and would seem better suited to the age of my
Lord Coke than to the understanding and condi.
tion of a race of new settlers engaged in clearing
s




232        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
away the forest.  This University was to have
thirteen didaxia or professorships,* each of which
was to be liberally endowed, and it was designed
to lay broad and deep the foundations for a thorough education.
Indeed, all Judge Woodward's projects seem to
have been upon no very moderate scale. Detroit
is indebted to him for a plan of the city laid out in
the form of a cobweb, with public squares, a circus,
a Campus Martius, streets, cross-streets, avenues,
&c., more vast in its conception and more com.
plex in its design than ancient Rome, and requiring a longer period to fill it up than from the time
of Romulus to our own day. The utilitarian ten.
dencies of his successors, however, have made
strange havoc with this magnificent plan, the
traces of which are now nowhere visible but on
the map.
On the admission of Illinois into the Union in
1818, all the territory lying north of that state and
Indiana was annexed to Michigan; and the following year Congress passed an act authorizing the
election of a delegate from the territory to the national Legislature, who should have the right of
speaking, but not of voting. This was of great
advantage to the inhabitants, as they were thereby
provided with a representative through whom they
* See Territorial Act of 1817.




EXPLORING EXPEDITION OF C.ASS.   233
could make known their wants to the general government.
Michigan, meanwhile, gradually continued to advance in population. The settlers extended themselves along the banks of the Rivers Raisin, Huron,
and St. Clair, and cleared away the forest from
the spots where now stand the villages of Ann
Arbor, Ypsilanti, Pontiac, Jackson, and Tecum.
seh.
That portion of the territory, however, situated
upon the borders of the upper lakes, was then but
little known; and in 1820 an expedition was set
on foot for the purpose of exploring it, to ascertain
the numbers and condition of the Indian tribes in
that quarter, and to select such positions as might
be most favourable for its defence.. This expedition, which was under the direction of Governor
Cass, was accompanied by a mineralogist, a topographical engineer, and a physician; was provided with an escort of soldiers, and the commanding officers of the posts along the lakes were ordered to afford to it every facility in their power.
The party started from Detroit on the 24th of
May, in bark canoes, manned by voyageurs and
Indians.
Passing up the River St. Clair, they proceeded
along the shores of Lake Huron, visited the island
of Mackinaw, then maintained as a trading-post




234         HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
by the Northwest Company, and soon arrived at
the Sault de Ste. Marie.*
This was considered a favourable point for the
establishment of a military post. By the treaty
of Greenville, concluded in 1795, the Indians had
agreed that all the lands which they had granted
to the French or English should be transferred to
the United States. This place they had ceded to
the French, who formerly maintained a garrison
here: it was clear, therefore, that it came within
the provisions of that treaty.  A council was
therefore called, at which the Indian chiefs attended, dressed in fine broadcloths and decorated with
trinkets of British manufacture. The savages op.
posed the proposed occupation, and sought to prevent it by denying all knowledge of the original
cession; and when it was fully explained to them,
they still persisted in withholding their consent,
though in less positive terms, suggesting that their
young men might prove unruly, and kill the cattle
which should stray from the post. This being understood as intended for a threat, Governor Cass
replied that he would give himself no farther trouble to confer on the subject, but that, as sure as the
rising sun would set in the west, so sure should an
American garrison be established at that place,
whatever might be their decision.t
* Schoolcraft's Journal.       t Ibid.




CASS AND THE INDIANS.         235
The chiefs, who appear to have been under British influence, now spent several hours in discussion. Some of them were willing that the Americans should occupy the post if there were no
troops stationed there.  At length a chief, who
held the rank of a brigadier-general in the British
service, seized his war-lance and struck it furiously on the ground, intimating thereby that the place
would not be given up except to superior force,
and the council soon afterward dispersed in a
hostile spirit.
The expedition under Governor Cass consisted
of sixty-six men, of whom thirty were regular soldiers, and the savages numbered about eighty warriors. The latter occupied the site of the old
French fort, and the Americans were drawn up
upon the bank of the River St. Mary, a ravine separating the two at a distance of five or six hundred
yards.*
While the Americans were waiting to see what
would be the issue of the affair, the British flag
was hoisted from the midst of the Indian encampment by the chief who had shown so hostile a dis.
position in the council. On discovering this, Governor Cass ordered his men to stand by their arms,
and, taking an interpreter, proceeded directly to
the Indian camp. Here he indignantly tore down
* Schoolcraft's Journal,




236        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
the obnoxious flag, telling the chief who had hoisted
it that it was an insult of the grossest kind; that the
flag was the emblem of national sovereignty; that
the ensigns of two different nations could never
float on the same soil; that they would not be per.
mitted to raise any other than that of the United
States; and that, if they attempted it again, that
power would set a strong foot upon their necks,
and crush them to the earth. When he had said
this the governor returned to his encampment, and
a few minutes after he arrived there, the Indian
women and children were seen quitting their lodges
and getting on board their canoes. No act of hostility, however, was committed; and some of the
older chiefs, who had not been present at the coun.
cil, came forward and made overtures of peace.
At seven o'clock the same evening a treaty was
concluded with them, by which they ceded to the
United States a tract of four miles square around
the Sault, including the portage, the site of the old
French fort, and the village, reserving to them.
selves the right of fishing at the falls, and of en.
camping upon the shores. The calumet was smoked,
and blankets, knives, silver trinkets, and broadcloths were distributed among them.*
Everything having been settled, the expedition
started again, and proceeded along the shores of
* Schoolcraft's Journal.




RESULTS OF THE EXPEDITION.      237
Lake Superior. Here they were struck with the
appearance of the Pictured Rocks, which extend
for miles along the shores of the lake, stained with
a variety of hues by the washing of mineral wa.
ters, and which exhibit to the delighted beholder
the most singular scene imaginable of Nature's
painting. They visited also the Doric Rock, which
presents the aspect of a rude though magnificent
piece of architecture, chiselled from the solid
granite, and examined other curiosities on this part
of the coast. The Copper Rock, at the mouth of
the Ontonagon River, which has from time im.
memorial been the subject of Indian superstition in
this wild, sequestered region, they found particular.
ly worthy of notice.
Having completed its survey, the expedition returned to Detroit by the way of Lake Michigan.
The results were a more accurate knowledge of
the geography of the country and of the operations
of the Northwest Fur Company, the selection
of sites for a line of military posts, and several important treaties with the Indian tribes, ceding
valuable tracts of land to the United States. Mr.
Henry R. Schoolcraft, who accompanied the expedition, afterward published his journal, giving a
particular account of the country, and of the incidents which occurred along their route.
Soon after this an important change took place




238        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
in the government of the territory. In 1823 Congress passed an act abrogating the legislative pow.
er of the governor and judges, and establishing a
legislative council, to consist of nine members,
limiting also the judges' term of office to four
years. Two years afterward all county officers,
excepting those of a judicial character, were made
elective by the people; all executive appointments
were required to be approved by the legislative
council; and an act was passed empowering the
governor and council to divide the territory into
townships, to incorporate the same, and to define
their rights and privileges.*
The Erie Canal, which had been commenced in
1817, was in 1825 opened for navigation from the
Hudson to Buffalo; and this event forms an important epoch in the progress of Michigan. The
effect of this great public improvement on the interests of the West was twofold; it cheapened
the foreign merchandise of which it stood in need,
and in the same or a still greater proportion enhanced the price of its agricultural products. Its
lands therefore increased in value, new facilities
and new motives were offered for settlement, and
from this period those vast and fertile regions advanced rapidly in population and general prosperity.
To meet the claims of the increasing population
* Territorial Laws.




GROWTH OF MICHIGAN.          239
of the territory, new privileges were granted. In
1827 the legislative council was made elective by
the people, with the power of enacting laws, subject to the approval of Congress and the veto of
the local executive; and upon this footing things
remained until the territory was admitted into the
Union.
Governor Cass, meanwhile, was indefatigable in
his efforts to have roads constructed through the
interior, and, warned by the experience of the past,
to provide effectually for the public defence. His
whole administration, indeed, was characterized
by a persevering zeal to promote the prosperity of
Michigan; to improve its institutions, and to de.
velop its resources.
A new impulse, as we have already remarked,
had been given to the progress of the West. It
offered a boundless field for enterprise, and began
to be considered the proper asylum and retreat for
all who would better their fortune by industry.
It was emphatically " the poor man's country,"
where his labour was sure to be rewarded by competence, and eventually by wealth. Hence population flowed in rapidly from the East. The hardy settlers, scattering over the country, made the
woods resound with the stroke of the axe; and
everywhere the smoke of their cabins was seen
* Territorial Laws.




240        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
ascending from the depths of the forest.  The
lakes presented a no less animated scene: the
white wings of commerce were spread out upon
their waters, and the cloud from the distant steamer was seen stretching along the horizon. The
reign of Nature in these hitherto silent and seclu.
ded solitudes was at an end, and that of man, with
all its life, and bustle, and activity, had begun.
In 1831, General Cass, having been appointed
secretary of war, was succeeded by Mr. George
B. Porter in the government of the territory, the
population of which at this time amounted to about
thirty-five thousand.  During his administration,
Wisconsin, which had before been annexed to
Michigan, was erected into a separate territory.
Meantime the commerce on Lake Erie was rapidly increasing. A road, which was, to say the least,
passable at some seasons of the year, was con.
structed across the Black Swamp, and numerous
avenues were opened into the interior. In conse.
quence of these improvements, the country became
better known, a spirit of speculation was awaken.
ed, and, in addition to the actual settlers, the woods
were traversed by numbers in search of desirable
tracts, which they purchased at the government
price, in the expectation of realizing large profits
from their rapid increase in value.
The method adopted by the government in maa




MANNER OF LAND SURVEYS.        241
king their surveys is one of great accuracy. Two
straight lines were drawn across the territory, the
one running north and south, the other east and
west. The north and south line was denominated
the principal meridian, and the east and west line
was called the base line. The territory was then
divided into townships six miles square, and these
were subdivided into thirty-six sections of a square
mile each, the townships being numbered in reg.
ular order, commencing at the meridian and base
lines, and increasing as they receded from them.
The mathematical accuracy of this method, and
the farther circumstance that each section and
township, and also the lines of the sections, were
blazed or marked upon the trees, enabled the emigrant, even in the depths of the forest, to find
clear landmarks to guide his course, and to ascertain the actual boundaries of each tract. The
smallest lot which can be purchased is one of
eighty acres, or a fractional lot made by a township line or by the course of a stream.
Prior to the year 1820, the established govern.
ment price for land was two dollars an acre, one
fourth of which was required to be paid at the
time of purchase, and the remainder in three annual instalments, the land being subject to forfeiture if these were not punctually paid, while a discount of eight per cent. was allowed if the whole




242        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
amount was paid in advance. This system, how
ever, was found to be productive of serious evils.
The expectation of gain induced many to make
large purchases, and while some realized fortunes,
perhaps, from their investments, others, who were
less successful, were without the means of paying
their instalments, and thus the whole became liable
to forfeiture. These results led to a total change
of the system. The price of the public lands was
reduced from two dollars to one dollar and a quar.
ter the acre, the whole of which was required to
be paid down at the time the purchase was made.
This was attended with the best effects, preventing a vast deal of trouble and loss to the government, discouraging reckless speculation, and ena.
bling the industrious settler with moderate means
to acquire for himself a clear and unencumbered
title to his land.
Meanwhile a controversy sprang up which came
near terminating in serious collision with a neigh.
bouring state. By the ordinance of 1787 it was
provided that any one of the grand divisions with.
in the limits of the Northwest Territory should be
entitled to admission into the Union whenever its
population amounted to sixty thousand; and Michigan having already that number of inhabitants,
claimed the right thus granted. The controversy
alluded to was in relation to the boundary.line




MICHIGAN MADE A STATE.           243
between the latter and Ohio, as established by the
ordinance of 1787. Each government claimed a
rich and extensive tract as falling within its limits,
which was made still more valuable from the proposed terminus of the Wabash and Erie Canal, a
work of great promise, being included within it.
So much excitement, indeed, prevailed, that both
parties sent a military force to the disputed frontier.*
Meanwhile the people of Michigan, having call.
ed a Convention and formed a State Constitution,
petitioned Congress to be admitted into the Union,
claiming as a part of their territory the tract in
dispute with Ohio. Congress, however, decided
in favour of the latter state, and assigned to Mich.
igan, in place of the fertile strip along her southern
border, about twenty-five thousand square miles of
barren, mountainous country on the shores of Lake
Superior.t
Stevens T. Mason was elected the first governor under the new organization. Mistress of her
own legislation, and left to her own energies,
* The ordinance of 1787 declared that not less than three
nor more than five states should be formed from the Northwestern Territory. Four of these have been already organized: Ohio was made a state in 1802; Indiana in 1816; Illinois
in 1818; Michigan in 1835; and Wisconsin alone remains to
be admitted into the Union.
t Act of Congress.




244        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Michigan started forward rapidly in the career of
improvement. By a census of her population taken in 1837, it was found to amount to one hundred and seventy-five thousand, consisting principally of emigrants from New-York and New-England. The existing laws were reformed; new ones,
where they were required, were enacted; and a
plan of public instruction was adopted, for the gen.
eral diffusion of education among the people. This
last act is one of the greatest importance, and posterity will regard as their greatest benefactors
those to whose enlightened forethought they will
be indebted for so wise and munificent a system.
In connexion with this subject the following particulars will be found interesting. By the ordinance of 1787, seventy-two sections of land were
granted by Congress for the endowment of a University, and to these three sections were afterward
added, so that this fund now consists of seventyfive sections, amounting to forty-eight thousand
acres. In the Report of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction submitted to the Legislature in
1838, it is estimated that these lands will sell for
one million of dollars. A state University has
therefore been organized, with a number of branches, and the parent or central institution established
at Ann Arbor, a pleasant village about forty miles
west of Detroit.




SYSTEM OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. 245
We have already remarked that, by the ordinance of 1787, lot number 16 in each township
was directed to be reserved for the support of
common schools. The quantity of land thus coming to the state for this object is one million, one
hundred and forty-eight thousand, one hundred and
sixty acres, which, according to a recent estimate
made by the superintendent of public instruction,
will yield about six millions of dollars. Upon this
broad basis a thorough system of common school
education has been established, which, if faithfully
carried out, will secure to the people of Michigan
a high character for intelligence: in connexion
with virtuous principles, the only guarantee for the
permanence of our free institutions.
The system of internal improvements also re.
quires to be noticed, as showing the enterprising
spirit of this youthful state. Three lines of railroads have been projected across the peninsular
portion of the state, forming what are called the
northern, southern, and middle tracks. The northern line is to commence at Palmer, on the St.
Clair, and, running through the counties of St.
Clair, La Peer, Genesee, Shiawassee, Clinton, and
lonia, and down the Grand River, is designed to
terminate at the Grand Rapids, in Kent county.
The southern line, starting from Monroe, and running through the counties of Monroe, Lenawee,




246        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Hillsdale, Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, and Berrien,
is intended to end at New-Buffalo, upon Lake
Michigan. The middle line will commence at Detroit, and, running through the counties of Wayne,
Washtenaw, Jackson, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, and
Berrien, is intended to terminate at the mouth of
the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan.
Besides these different railroads, the route for a
canal has been surveyed, to pass through the counties of Macomb, Oakland, Livingston, Ingham,
Eaton, Barry, and Allegan, commencing at Mt.
Clemens, and terminating at Naples, on the Kalamazoo River, about a mile from Lake Michigan.
A ship-canal has also been projected around the
Sault de Ste. Marie, to connect the waters of Lake
Superior with those below, and thus open a continuous line of navigation throughout the whole
extent of these inland seas.
When these various plans of internal improve.
ment shall have been completed, forming four dif.
ferent lines of communication across the penin.
sula, the products of every part of the state will
be brought within reach of a convenient and profitable market; giving a new impulse to industry,
and increased value to the soil.
The local advantages of Michigan are peculiar.
ly great. In addition to the fertility of her soil,
she possesses a lake coast which in extent resem



PROSPERITY OF MICHIGAN.      247
bles that of the ocean, and which will afford to
her advantages similar to those enjoyed by the
states bordering on the Atlantic shore; and of the
future magnitude of this internal commerce we
may in some measure judge, by considering its
vast increase hitherto: twenty years ago there
was not a steamer upon the lakes, and very few
sail vessels; whereas there are now about seventy
of the former, and several hundred of the latter.
May we not anticipate that, at no distant day, the
summer tourist will think as little of making an
excursion to the head of Lake Superior as he now
does of visiting Niagara or Quebec?
The agricultural industry of the state has, on
the whole, kept pace with its improvements in
other respects. Paper speculation did indeed, for
a while, monopolize everybody's attention; but
sounder views now prevail, and straightforward
industry is found to be the surest and best, and for
the most part the only road to wealth. Owing to
the neglect of cultivation during the speculating
mania, the great addition made to the transitory
population by the influx of new settlers, and the
consequently increased demand for articles from
abroad, Michigan became largely indebted to the
East. But these evils have been since corrected,
and the western farmer is now in a condition to
pay for the foreign merchandise he may need with
T




248        HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
the products of his soil. Instead of being obliged
to import wheat for her own consumption, this
state has now a large and rapidly.increasing an.
nual surplus for exportation.
We here conclude our brief account of this young
but advancing territory.  We have seen it in the
infancy of its settlement, under the blighting effects
of feudal institutions similar to those existing in
France at that period, being then little more than
a mere ranging-ground for the Jesuit missionary
and the fur.trader, a waste roamed over by the
wild beast and the savage, and designedly kept in
this state as a shelter for the fur-bearing animals.
We have seen the French banner supplanted by
the red cross of England, without producing any
material change in the condition of the country;
and, finally, we have seen the stars and stripes of
our own republic planted on the soil, and witnessed
in the extraordinary improvements which have
since taken place the wonder-working energies of
our free institutions.




APPENDIX.
NOTE A., page 32.
" Memoir of the Men and Provisions necessary for the Vessels which the King intends to send into Canada.
"To perform the voyage which the king our sovereign
lord desires to have made to Canada, it must go, at the
latest, in the middle of May, and must have the number
of persons and ships hereinafter mentioned, to be increased
or lessened as M. Le Connetable (the prime minister) shall
think proper.
" It will be requisite to have, as well for guarding the
ships that will remain there, as for the equipment of several boats which will be wanted to go into the various
streams and rivers, 120 mariners:
" Also forty men of war; harquebusiers:
"Also thirty carpenters, as well of ships as of houses,
and sawyers who work lengthways:
"' Ten master masons, who can be assisted by those of
the country who will serve them:
"Three men who can make lime:' Three makers of tiles:
"Two coalmen, to make charcoal:
"Four master farriers, each having a forge and two servants, with two locksmiths:
"Four smiths, to search and ascertain if there be any
mine of iron, and to make forges and work iron there




250                 APPENDIX.
" To take at least six vine-dressers and six labourers,
"Three barbers, and each a servant:
" Two apothecaries, with each a servant, to examine and
see the useful qualities of the herbs:
"A physician and a servant:
"Two goldsmiths who are lapidaries, with their necessary utensils, and each a servant:
"Two master tailors and two master hosiers, and each
a servant:
" Two joiners and two servants, with their tools:
"Two master rope-makers and two servants, because
there is hemp to make cordage:
"Four cannoniers at least, and the men-of-war will
make use of these when need requires:
"Six churchmen, with all things necessary for divine
service: in all 276 men; to be victualled for two years at
least, that if the ships which shall be sent there next year
should not arrive, those now going may not want food.
" These victuals must be well made, and so good as to
last all this time; and there must be some of the dry wines
of Spain.
"These victuals may cost ten sols a month for each
man, which, for the 276 men for twenty-four months, will
amount to 33,120 livres.
- "They must also be furnished with clothes, beds, coverings, and all other necessaries for two or three years;
and they must leave some money behind for their wives
and children.
" Therefore they must be paid in advance for fifteen or
sixteen months, and this will cost at least, one with the
other, 100 sols a month.
"Ten tons of iron, which will cost fifty livi es.
" Eight or ten prises of salt, as well for the people of the




APPENDIX.                 251
country, who very much value it, as for those of the ships.
This will cost in Brittany sixty sols for each prise.
"Four milliers yards of common linen, as well for the
natives as for the ships.
"Three hundred pieces of crezeaus for natives and ships.
"Also millstones, to make water-mills, wind-mills, and
hand-mills.
"They must also carry out as many as possible of all
manner and kinds of domestic beasts and birds, as well to
do the work as to breed in the country, and all sorts of
grains and seeds.
" For their passage there must be at least six ships, of
not less than 110 tons, with two barks of forty-five or fifty
tons each; these, with the smallest of the six ships, will
remain there, and the other five will return as soon as they
have landed the victuals and goods. For the return of
these five, each must have twenty men over and above
the aforesaid number. They may take in going and coming, and in staying there, five or six months, for which
time they must be victualled; and be paid two months on
going out, and the remainder on their return.
" There must be munitions of war to land for the forts:
artillery, arquebuses, a croc, pikes, halberts, lead, balls,
powder, and other things.
" In the ships must be three boats, ready to put out when
there, to go out on the streams and rivers.
"All sorts of nail-work, pitch, and tar for the ships.
The six ships, being from 700 to 800 tons, will cost a
crown per ton a month for moleage, or about 900 crowns
a mouth, and for the six months 4900 croons.
" There must be also provided pay and victuals for 100
men, to bring back the shipping this year, who may be de



252                APPENDIX.
tained six months, which would amount to 1000 livres a
month, and therefore, for the six months, 6000 livres.
"Made... September, 1538."
I derive this curious paper from the collection of state
letters made by Ribier in 1666, and addressed by him to
Colbert, the celebrated minister of Louis XIV.  This
counsellor of state describes Canada as then " a vast country, uncultivated like a desert, and in most places uninhabited, except by demons and wild beasts."
NOTE B., page 35.
Massacres of the Jesuits by the Iroquois.
FATHER HENNEPIN, who was for some time a missionary among the Iroquois, states that the savages believed
him to be a conjurer, and a burnished silver chalice which
he had in his possession was the subject of much fear.
"The Indians," says Pere Jerome Lallemand, "fear us as
the greatest sorcerers on earth." The first religious mission of the Jesuits to the savages of North America was
about the year 1611. Their zeal, and their patient endurance of every sort of privation, evinced the strength and
fervour of their faith, which was not unfrequently crowned
with the tortures of martyrdom. Pere Brebceuf, who had
suffered the hardships of the wilderness for twenty years,
was at last burned alive, together with his coadjutor, Pere
Lallemand, upon the shores of Lake Huron. A number
of other Jesuits were also put to death by the Iroquois.
Among these were Daniel, Gamier, Buteaux, La Riborerde,
Liegeouis, Goupil, and Constantin. An account of their
privations is given in the work of Pere Lallemand, entitled' Relation de ce qui s'est dans le pays des Hurons," 1640




APPENDIX.                  253
"For bed," says he, "we have nothing but a miserable
piece of bark of a tree; for nourishment, a handful or two
of corn, either roasted or soaked in water, which seldom
satisfies our hunger; and, after all, not venturing to perform even the ceremonies of our religion without being
considered as sorcerers." In regard to the results of their
exertions, Pere Lallemand remarks, "With respect to
adult persons in good health, there is little apparent success; on the contrary, there have been nothing but stormsi
and whirlwinds from that quarter."
NOTE C., page 85.
THE following grant, being the first in Detroit, was made
by Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac, lord of Bouaget Montdesert, and commandant for the king at Detroit Pont Chartrain.
" His majesty, by his despatches of the 14th, 17th, and
19th June, 1705 and 1706, having given us power to cede
the lands of Detroit in the manner which we shall judge
good and convenient; We, by virtue of the said power
from his majesty, have given, granted, and ceded to Francois Fafard Delorme, interpreter for the king in this place,
his heirs and assigns, an extent of land of two arpents in
front by twenty in depth, joining on one side of our manor,
and on the other Francois Bosseron, and on the south the
Grand River; which two arpents in front shall be drawn
and alienated in the depth by the course north-northwest;
and in case any part short of two arpents shall be found in
the alienation, the same quantity shall be furnished to him
in another place, not yet ceded, without any expense;
which said two arpents in front by twenty in depth the
said Francois'alartl, his heirs and assigns, shall hold and




254                 APPENDIX.
enjoy forever, with the privilege of fishing, hunting, and
trapping-hares, rabbits, partridges, and pheasants excepted. Said Francois Fafard, his heirs and assigns, shall be
bound to pay us, our heirs and assigns, in our castle and
principal manor, each year on the 20th of March, for the
said habitation, the sum of five livres quit rent and rent,
and over and above, for other rights whereof we have divested ourselves, the sum of ten livres in peltries good and
merchantable; and when a current money shall be established in this country, the said Frarcois Fafard shall pay
the said rent in said money forever. He shall likewise be
obliged to begin to clear and improve the said cession within three montiis from the date of these presents, in default
whereof we shall cede his habitation to whom it may appertain. He, his heirs and assigns, shall be, moreover, obliged to comply with the following charges, claims, and conditions, to wit: to come and carry, plant or help to plant,
a long Maypole before the door of our principal manor on
the first day of May in every year; and if he fail, he shall
pay us three livres in money or good peltries; he shall
likewise be obliged to come and grind his grain in the mills
which we have or shall have hereafter, on paying for the
right of grinding, whatever kind the grain may be, eight
pounds weight to the bushel; and in case he shall sell his
habitation in the whole or in part, he shall be obliged to infoIm us of it, and we reserve to ourselves the preference,
at the price and sum which may be offered him; and, on
the same condition, lawful and permitted, he shall not sell,
cede, or transfer it by mortgage but with our consent, he
being subject to the public charges and servitudes, as also
to the fees for right of alienation.
Said Francois Fafard shall not be permitted during ten
years to work, or cause any person to work, directly or in



APPENDIX.                  255
directly, at the profession and trade of a blacksmith, locksmith, armorer, or brewer, without a permit under our
hand; reserving, besides, the timber which may be wanted
for the fortifications, and for the construction of boats or
other vessels. Said Francois Fafard may send down to
Montreal, or other places of the lower colony, all the articles he pleases, in as large a quantity as he chooses; and
bring from thence merchandise and other effects, in as large
a quantity as he chooses, on the condition that he shall sell
his said effects and merchandises by himself only, or by
other inhabitants of this place, but not by engagees or
clerks, or foreigners or strangers, not established residents
in this place with their family, on pain of confiscation and
loss of said effects and merchandises; and in case the said
Francois Fafard shall sell, cede, or transfer his habitation;n the whole to a foreigner, or another not established in
this place, the possessor or purchaser of said habitation in
any manner, whatever he may be or become, shall be liable to the same quit rent and rent as the said Francois Fafard; and if the said Francois Fafard sells, cedes, or
transfers part of his habitation to a foreigner, the purchaser,
in whatever manner he be or become such, shall be obliged
to pay us, our heirs and assigns forever, in proportion of
the said rent and quit rent; and besides, over and above,
for the rights whereof we have divested ourselves, the sum
of ten livres for each year, on the 20th day of March. Said
Francois Fafard shall not be permitted to sell or trade away
brandy to the Indians, on pain of confiscation and loss of
his habitation, and of the brandy found thereon, or effects
received for the same; and if the said purchaser of the
whole or of part is an inhabitant, and pays the sum of ten
livres for the rights whereof we have divested ourselves,
he shall pay us only the quit rent and rents of his acquisi



256                 APPENDIX.
tion, and not the sum of ten livres over and above; and it
the habitation of the said Francois Fafard passes into other
hands, in whatever manner it may be, and he be or become
proprietor of another piece of ground, house, or habitation,
the said Francois Fafard shall pay us, our heirs and assigns
forever, the sum of ten livres for the rights whereof we
have divested ourselves, besides the quit rent and rent of
the habitation, piece of ground, or house; and in case the
said Francois Fafard remains without possession of any
land, house, or habitation, he shall be divested of all the
privileges to him granted by this present cession. In consideration, generally, of all the claims, charges, and conditions aforesaid towards us, our heirs and assigns, the said
Francois Fafard, his heirs and assigns, shall hold and enjoy
the said cession; shall sell and trade as well with the
French as with the Indians, conforming himself to the regulations and to the orders of his majesty.
Done at Fort Pontehartrain, 10th of March, 1707.
LAMOTHE CADILLAC.
These grants were generally required to be confirmed
by the King of France; but, from certain circumstances
existing at that period, only three legal grants were made
under the French government. To some of these tracts
cessions in tne. rear were subsequently added. Grants
were afterward nadb to French citizens by Bellestre and
other of the French commandants; but it appears that
these were unauthorized, and were never confirmed by the
King of France.




APPENDIX.                  257
NOTE D, page 86.
THE subjoined petition from sundry inhabitants of IDetroit, to stay a trespass on a mill, exhibits the mode of legal proceeding in Michigan under the French domination.
"To Messrs. De Celoron, knight of the royal and military order of St. Louis, commandant for the king at Fort
Detroit, and Landrieve, doing the duty of commissary and
deputy intendant of New-France in the said place,
"( The inhabitants of Detroit humbly represent to you,
gentlemen, that the mill situated on the farm of Claude
Campeau is of an indispensable necessity and convenience
to the public. They have heard that the named Cabacier,
an inhabitant of Detroit, was seeking the means to have it
demolished, under the pretext that the corner of his meadow was inundated by the said mill. It is easily seen that
it is in a spirit of incompatibility and contradiction towards
his neighbours; for in summer his meadow is dry, and in
winter the water has its natural course, the said mill not
going on account of the ice. This mill was constructed
by the consent of M. De Boisherbert, formerly commandant
in this fort, as a thing useful to the public, and a long time
before the cession of the land of the said Cabacier. If this
mill had given any prejudice to the meadow which is
alongside of his land, the first proprietors would not have
failed to make representations on that subject. The said
mill has always existed till now without any interruption,
it being, besides, erected on the land of its proprietor.
" This being considered, may it please you, gentlemen,
taking into view the public advantage and convenience, to
order that the said mill shall continue as before; it being,
besides, the only one handy to this fort, and which goes
the greatest part of the year: to forbid the said Cabacicv




258                 APPENDIX.
and all others to attempt any depredation on the said mill,
or to trouble the owner, on pain of damages, costs, and interest, and you shall do justice.
" Having seen the above, and no title having appeared
to us, we order that the parties do apply to the governor
and the intendant; and the mill shall remain in its present
situation until the decision of the governor and the intendant is had.
"Done at Detroit, 30th June, 1753.
"< LANDRIEVE, CELORON.
After having seen the foregoing petition, we order that
the named Campeaux be in peaceable possession of the
said mill, having given due regard to the opinion of Messrs.
Celoron and Landrieve.
" Done at Montreal, 22d August, 1753.
" Du QUESNE."
NOTE E, page 176.
A TREATY of peace between the United States of America and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatamies,
Miamis, Eell River, Weeas, Kickapoos, Kankashaws, and
Kaskaskies.
To put an end to a destructive war, to settle all controversies, and to restore harmony and a friendly intercourse
between the said United States and Indian tribes: Anthony Wayne, major-general commanding the army of
the United States, and sole commissioner for the good
purposes above-mentioned, and the said tribes of Indians
by their sachems, chiefs, and warriors, met together at
Greenville, the headquarters of the said army, have agreed




APPENDIX.                 259
on the following articles, which, when ratified by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate of the
United States, shall be binding on them and the said Indian
tribes.
Article 1. Henceforth all hostilities shall cease; peace
is hereby established, and shall be perpetual; and a friendly intercourse shall take place between the said United
States and Indian tribes.
Article 2. All prisoners shall on both sides be returned.
The Indians, prisoners to the United States, shall be immediately set at liberty. The people of the United States
still remaining prisoners among the Indians shall be delivered up, in ninety days from the date hereof, to the general or commanding officer at Greenville, Fort Wayne, or
Fort Defiance; and ten chiefs of the said tribes shall remain at Greenville as hostages until the delivery of the
prisoners shall be effected.
Article 3. The general boundary-line between the lands
of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes
shall begin at the mouth of Wyahoga River, and run
thence up the same to the portage between that and the
Tuscarora branch of the Muskingum; thence down that
branch to the Great Miami River, running into the Ohio
at or near which Kerk stood, Loromie's store, and where
commences the portage between the Miami of the Ohio
and St. Mary's River, which is a branch of the Miami
which runs into Lake Erie; thence a westerly course to
Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash;
thence southwesterly in a direct line to the Ohio, so as to
intersect that river opposite the mouth of Kentuky or Cattawa River. And, in consideration of the peace now established, of the goods formerly received from the United
States, of those now to be delivered, and of the yearly de



260                APPENDIX.
livery of goods now stipulated to be made hereafter, and
to indemnify the United States for the injuries and expenses they have sustained during the war, the said Indian
tribes do hereby cede and relinquish forever all their claims
to the lands lying eastwardly and southwardly of the general boundary-line now described; and those lands, or any
part of them, shall never hereafter be made a cause or
pretence, on the part of the said tribes, or any of them, of
war or injury to the United States, or any of the people
thereof.
And for the same considerations, and as an evidence of
the returning friendship of the said Indian tribes, of their
confidence in the United States, and desire to provide for
their accommodation, and for that convenient intercourse
which will be beneficial to both parties, the said Indian
tribes do also cede to the United States the following
pieces of land, to wit: (1.) One piece of land six miles
square, at or near Loromie's store before mentioned: (2.)
One piece two miles square, at the head of the navigable
water or landing on the St. Mary's River, near Girty's
town: (3.) One piece six miles square, at the head of the
navigable water of the Au Glaize River: (4.) One piece
six miles square, at the confluence of the Au Glaize and
Miami River, where Fort Defiance now stands: (5.) One
piece six miles square, at or near the confluence of the
Rivers St. Mary's and St. Joseph's, where Fort Wayne
now stands, or near it: (6.) One piece two miles square,
on the Wabash River, at the end of the portage from the
Miami of the Lake, and about eight miles westward from
Fort Wayne: (7.) One piece six miles square, at the Ouatanon, or old Weea towns on the WVabash River: (8.)
One piece twelve miles square, at the British Fort on the
Miami of the Lake, at the foot of the Rapids: (9.) One piece




APPENDIX.                  261
six miles square, at the mouth of the said river, where it
empties into the lake: (10.) One piece six miles square,
upon Sandusky Lake, where a fort formerly stood: (11.)
One piece two miles square, at the lower Rapids of Sandusky River: (12.) The Post of Detroit, and all the land
to the north, the west, and the south of it, of which the
Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the
French or English governments; and so much more land
to be annexed to the District of Detroit as shall be comprehended between the River Rosine on the south, Lake
St. Clair on the north, and a line, the general course whereof shall be six miles distant from the west end of Lake
Erie and Detroit River: (13.) The post of Michilimackinac,
and all the land on the island on which that post stands,
and the main land adjacent, of which the Indian title has
been extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or English governments; and a piece of land on the main to tne
north of the island, to measure six miles on Lake Huron,
or the strait between Lake Huron and Michigan, and to
extend three miles back from the water of the lake or
strait; and also the island de Bois Blanc, being an extra
and voluntary gift of the Chippewa nation: (14.) One piece
of land of six miles square, at the mouth of Chikajo River,
emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan, where
a fort formerly stood: (15.) One piece twelve miles square,
at or near the mouth of the Illinois River, emptying into
the Mississippi: (16.) One piece six miles square, at the
old Piorias Fort and village, near the south end of the Illinois Lake, on said Illinois River; and whenever the United States shall think proper to survey and mark the boundaries of the land hereby ceded to them, they shall give
timely notice thereof to the said tribes of Indians, that
they may appoint some of their wise chiefs to attend, and




262                APPENDIX.
see that the lines are run according to the terms of the
treaty.
And the said Indian tribes will allow to the people of the
United States a free passage by land and by water, as one
and the other shall be found convenient, through their
country, along the chain of posts herein before mentioned;
that is to say, from the commencement of the portage
aforesaid at or near Loromie's store, thence along the
said portage to the St. Mary's, and down the same to Fort
Wayne, and then down the Miami to Lake Erie. Again,
from the commencement of the portage at or near Loromie's store along the portage; from thence to the River
Au Glaize, and down the same to its junction with the
Miami at Fort Defiance. Again, from the commencement
of the portage to the Sandusky River, and down the same
to Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie; and from Sandusky to
the post which shall be taken at or near the foot of the
Rapids of the Miami of the Lake, and from thence to Detroit. Again, from the mouth of Chikajo to the commencement of the portage between that river and the Illinois,
and down the Illinois River to the Mississippi; also from
Fort Wayne along the portage aforesaid which leads to the
Wabash, and then down the Wabash to the Ohio. And
the said Indian tribes will also allow to the people of the
United States the free use of the harbours and mouths of
rivers along the lakes adjoining the Indian lands, for sheltering vessels and boats, and liberty to land their cargoes
when necessary for their safety.
Article 4. In consideration of the peace now established,
and of the cessions and relinquishments of land made in
the preceding article by the said tribes of Indians, and to
manifest the liberality of the United States as the great
means of rendering this peace strong and perpetual, the




APPENDIX.                 263
United States relinquish their claims to all other Indian
lands northward of the River Ohio, eastward of the Mississippi, and westward and southward of the great lakes,
and the waters uniting them, according to the boundaryline agreed on by the United States and the King of Great
Britain in the treaty of peace made between them in the
year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three.
But from this relinquishment by the United States the
following tracts of land are explicitly excepted:
1st. The tract of one hundred and fifty thousand acres
near the Rapids of the River Ohio, which has been assigned to General Clarke for the use of himself and his
warriors.
2d. The Post of St. Vincennes, on the River Wabash,
and the lands adjacent, of which the Indian title has been
extinguished.
3d. The lands at all other places in possession of the
French people, and other white settlers among them, of
which the Indian title has been extinguished, as mentioned
in the third article; and,
4th. The Post of Fort Massae, towards the mouth of the
Ohio. To which several parcels of land so excepted, the
said tribes relinquish all the title and claim which they or
any of them may have.
And for the same considerations, and with the same
views as above mentioned, the United States now deliver
to the said Indian tribes a quantity of goods to the value
of twenty thousand dollars, the receipt whereof they do
hereby acknowledge; and henceforward every year forever, the United States will deliver, at some convenient
place northward of the River Ohio, like useful goods, suil
ed to the circumstances of the Indians, to the value of nine
thousand five hundred dollars, reckoning that value as the
IJ




264                APPENDIX.
first cost of the goods in the city or place of the United
States where they shall be procured. The tribes to which
those goods are to be annually delivered, and the proportions in which they are to be delivered, are the following;
1st. To the Wyandots the amount of one thousand dollars
2d. To the Delawares the amount of one thousand dollars.
3d. To the Shawnees the amount of one thousand dollars.
4th. To the Miamis the amount of one thousand dollars.
5th. To the Ottawas the amount of one thousand dollars.
6th. To the Chippewas the amount of one thousand dollars. 7th. To the Pottawatamies the amount of one thousand dollars. 8th. To the Kickapoo, Lorra, Eell River,
Kankashaws, and Kaskaskias tribes, the amount of five
hundred dollars each.
Provided, That if either of the said tribes shall hereafter,
at an annual delivery of their share of the goods aforesaid,
desire that a part of their annuity should be furnished in
domestic animals, implements of husbandry, and other
utensils convenient for them, and in compensation to useful artificers, who may reside with or near them, and be
employed for their benefit, the same shall, at the subsequent
annual deliveries, be furnished accordingly.
Article 5. To prevent any misunderstanding about the
Indian lands relinquished by the United States in the fourth
article, it is now explicitly declared that the meaning of
that relinquishment is this: The Indian tribes who have
a right to those lands are quietly to enjoy them, hunting,
planting, and dwelling thereon so long as they please, without any molestation from the United States; but when
those tribes, or any of them, shall be disposed to sell their
lands, or any part of them, they are to be sold only to the
United States; and, until such sales, the United States
will protect all the said Indian tribes in the quiet enjoy



APPENDIX.                 265
ment of their lands against all citizens of the United States,
and against all other white persons who intrude upon the
same; and the said Indian tribes again acknowledge themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and
no other power whatever.
Article 6. If any citizen of the United States, or any
other white person or persons, shall presume to settle upon
the lands now relinquished by the United. States, such
citizen or other person shall be out of the protection of the
United States; and the Indian tribe on whose lands the
settlement shall be made, may drive off the settler, or punish him in such a manner as they shall think fit; and because such settlements, made without the consent of the
United States, will be injurious to them as well as to the
Indians, the United States shall be at liberty to break them
up, and remove and punish the settlers as they shall think
proper, and so effect that protection of the Indian lands
herein before stipulated.
Article 7. The said tribes of Indians, parties to this
treaty, shall be at liberty to hunt within the territory and
lands which they have now ceded to the United States
without hinderance or molestation, so long as they demean
themselves peaceably, and offer no injury to the people of
the United States.
Article 8. Trade shall be opened with the said Indian
tribes; and they do hereby respectively engage to afford
protection to such persons, with their property, as shall be
duly licensed to reside among them, for the purpose of
trade, and to their agents and servants; but no person
shall be permitted to reside at any of their towns or hunting-camps as a trader, who is not furnished with a license
or that purpose under the hand and seal of the superinendent of the department northwest of the Ohio, or such




266                 APPENDIX.
other persons as the President of the United States shall
authorize to examine such licenses, to the end that the
said Indians may not be imposed on in their trade; and if
any licensed trader shall abuse his privilege by unfair dealing, upon complaint and proof thereof his license shall be
taken from him, and he shall be farther punished according to the laws of the United States. And if any person
shall intrude himself as a trader without such license, the
said Indians shall take and bring him before the superintendent or his deputy, to be dealt with according to law;
and, to prevent impositions by forged licenses, the said Indians shall, at least once a year, give information to the
superintendent or his deputies of the names of the traders
residing among them.
Article 9. Lest the firm peace and friendship now established should be interrupted by the misconduct of individuals, the United States and the said Indian tribes
agree that, for injuries done by individuals on either side,
no private revenge or retaliation shall take place; but, instead thereof, complaint shall be made by the party injured
to the other: by the said Indian tribes or any of them to
the President of the United States, or the superintendent
by him appointed; and by the superintendent, or other
person appointed by the president, to the principal chiefs
of the Indian tribes, or of the tribe to which the ofender
belongs; and such prudent measures shall then be pursued as shall be necessary to preserve the said peace and
friendship unbroken, until the Legislature (or Great Council) of the United States shall make otner equitable provision in the case to the satisfaction of both parties. Should
any Indian tribes meditate a war against the United States
or either of them, and the same shall come to the knowledge of the before-mentioned tribes or either of them, they




APPENDIX.                 267
do hereby engage to give notice thereof to the general oi
officer commandiag the troops of the United States at the
nearest post. And should any tribe, with hostile intentions
against the United States or either of them, attempt to
pass through their country, they will endeavour to prevent
the same, and, in like manner, give information of such at
tempt to the general or officer commanding as soon as
possible, that all causes of mistrust and suspicion may be
avoided between them and the United States.
In like manner, the United States shall give notice to the
said Indian tribes of any harm that may be meditated
against them, or either of them, that shall come to their
knowledge, and do all in their power to hinder and prevent the same, that the friendship between them may be
uninterrupted.
Article 10. All other treaties heretofore made between
the United States and the said Indian tribes, or any of
them, since the treaty of 1783 between the United States
and Great Britain, that come within the provisions of this
treaty, shall henceforth cease and become void.
Done at Greenville, in the territory of the United States,
northwest of the River Ohio, on the third day of August,
one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five.
ANTHONY WAYNE (L.S.).
NOTE F, page 200.
By WILLIAM HULL, Brigadier-general and Commander-inchief of the Northwestern Army of the United States 
A PROCLAMATION.
Inhabitants of Canada:
After thirty years of peace and prosperity, the United
States have been driven to arms. The injuries and ag



268                APPENDIX.
gressions, the insults and indignities cf Great Britain, have
left them no alternative but manly resistnce or unconditional submission. The army under my command has invaded your country, and the standard of the Union now
waves over the territory of Canada. To the peaceable,
unoffending inhabitants it brings neither danger nor difficulty. I come to find enemies, not to make them; I come
to protect, not to injure you. Separated by an immense
ocean and an extensive wilderness from Great Britain, you
have no participation in her councils, no interest in hei
conduct; you have felt her tyranny, you have seen her injustice; but I do not ask you to revenge the one or to redress the other. The United States are sufficiently powerful to afford every security consistent with their rights
and your expectations. I tender you the invaluable blessing of civil, political, and religious liberty, and their necessary result, individual and general prosperity. That
liberty which gave decision to our councils and energy to
our conduct in a struggle for independence, and which
conducted us safe and triumphantly through the stormy
period of the Revolution. That liberty which has raised
us to an elevated rank among the nations of the world, and
which afforded us a greater measure of peace, and security
of wealth, and improvement, than ever fell to the lot of any
country. In the name of my country, and by the authority of government, I promise you protection to your persons, property, and rights. Remain at your homes; pursue your peaceful and customary avocations; raise not
your hand against your brethren. Many of your fathers
fought for the freedom and independence we now enjoy.
Being children, therefore, of the same family with us, and
heirs to the same heritage, the arrival of an army of friends
must be hailed by you with a cordial welcome. You will




AP15'N.S:.               269
be emancipated from tyranny and oppression, and restored
to the dignified station of freemen. Had I any doubt of
eventual success, I might ask your assistance; but I do
not; I come prepared for every contingency. I have a
force which will look down all opposition, and that force
is the vanguard of a much greater. If, contrary to your
own interest and the just expectation of my country, you
should take part in the approaching contest, you will be
considered and treated as enemies, and the horrors and
calamities of war will stalk before you. If the barbarous
and savage policy of Great Britain be pursued, and the
savages be let loose to murder our citizens and butcher our
women and children, this war will be a war of extermination. The first stroke of the tomahawk, the first attempt
with the scalping-knife, will be the sequel of one indiscriminate scene of desolation. No white man found fighting
by the side of an Indian will be taken prisoner; instant
destruction will be his lot. If the dictates of reason, duty,
justice, and humanity cannot prevent the employment of
a force which respects no rights and knows no wrong, it
will be prevented by a severe and relentless system of retaliation. I doubt not your courage and firmness; I will
not doubt your attachment to liberty. The United States
offer you peace, liberty, and security; your choice lies between these and war, slavery and destruction. Choose,
then, but choose wisely; and may He who knows the justice of our cause, and who holds in his hands the fate of
nations, guide you to a result the most compatible with
your rights and interests, your peace and happiness.
By the general,                 A. P. HULL,
Capt. of the 131h U. S. Reg't. of Infantry and Aiddecamp.
Headquaiters, Sandwich, July 12th, 1812.
THE BND.