Economic and social beginnings of Michigan

Front matter

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Preface

TT has been the hope of the author to call attention to the fertile field which lies at the beginning of Michigan's history as an agricultural commonwealth under American institutions. So far from being exhaustive, this treatise is but an introduction to the subject. Many of its topics could be expanded into useful monographs. For example, the War of 1812 in relation to the Michigan frontier is here but lightly touched upon; the succeeding financial crisis — especially in relation to other factors causing emigration from the eastern states— the dissemination of knowledge about Michigan in the East and abroad, the several land and Indian questions, the rise of lake commerce, and many other subjects equally obvious — all would yield richly to the research of the patient student.

The place of the monograph will be clear in the light of previous works on Michigan. The books that have appeared hitherto are very general accounts in which economic and social factors are incidental ; here, as the leading title is intended to suggest, we are concerned only with those facts which bear directly upon the beginnings of Michigan's economic and social history.

And if we except the fur trade, the period of Michigan Territory is well within those beginnings. Before then the spirit of the French period was unfavorable vi PREFACE

to the advance of agriculture. The fur trader wished the forests to stand to protect the fur-bearing animals; the missionary wished the frontier distant to preserve his Indian converts from the influence of the white settlements; in the paternalism and militarism of that period there was little room for popular activity through local civil institutions; and there was little immigration and permanent home-building ; after more than a century of French occupation only a few hundred families had been planted in the whole of the southern peninsula, mainly at one point, and these families were interested principally in the fur trade. The periods of British and early American occupation were not essentially different. It was the opinion of Major John Biddle, who was at the head of the Detroit Land Office during most of the Territorial period, that "as an American community, founding its prosperity upon the permanent resources of its own industry, Michigan may date its origin in ISIS.^" This was an interpretation by a man of practical affairs speaking near the close of the Territorial period from the viewpoint of the tremendous impulse given to the development of agriculture, industry and commerce by the opening of public land sales at Detroit and the beginning of steam navigation on the Great Lakes.

The close of Michigan's Territorial history marks also the close of a quite distinct economic period. The years preceding 1837 saw such unprecedented acceleration of economic growth and prosperity, and the stagnation of all activities following the financial crisis of

1. Historical and Scientific Sketches oj Michigan (Detroit, 1834), 163.

PREFACE vii

1837 was SO general and complete, that these years are marked off distinctly from all that followed.

The author has employed the somewhat vague term "settlement" to indicate the process by which an immigrant population adjusts itself to a new environment. The factors in this process, as here considered, may be gathered into four groups, which while they blend into one another, are fairly distinguishable and correspond approximately to four phases of this adjustment. They center about (1) governmental aids, (2) immigration, (3) active pioneering and (4) institutional growth. The first group involves the military protection of the frontier, the extinguishing of Indian titles, the surveying of lands, the establishment of land offices, the regulation of land sales, the organizing of counties and townships, and the improvement of facilities for transportation. The second group concerns the sources of population — why people left their old homes, why they came to Michigan, how they reached Michigan, and the qualities, habits and ideals which they brought with them. A third group relates to clearing the forest, cutting roads, breaking the lands, building homes and villages, and establishing the local institutions of community life. A fourth group deals with subsequent growth, when with immigrants still coming in great numbers, institutions began to take on a permanent character; here are noted the checks and stimuli of institutional" growth and the comparative rate and amount of growth in different periods, the relative tendencies to village and city life, and the concentration of rural population, the interaction of rural and urban growth, especially with reference to imviii PREFACE

provements in transportation, and the distinguishing features of large centers of population.

The first two chapters are introductory. Chapter I gives a general survey of the geologic and physical conditions which affected the economic development of the Territory as a whole. Chapter II treats the essential checks and stimuli other than these. Together they should help to unify the chapters that follow.

The subsequent chapters are based mainly upon those physiographic agents which influenced the time, rate, amount and distribution of population. The part of the Territory affected by immigration before 1837 appears to divide naturally on this basis into a half dozen settlement areas. First, there are the counties of Monroe, Wayne, Macomb and St. Clair which have many common physical features, the earliest lands to be settled by the French-Canadians and by settlers from eastern states. Oakland, Washtenaw and Lenawee were the first inland counties to receive immigrants and each represents a great line of immigration along which population moved to the interior, respectively northwest to the Saginaw country, west to the valleys of the Kalamazoo and Grand rivers, and to the St. Joseph country in southwestern Michigan. Each of the four river valleys, the St. Joseph, the Kalamazoo, the Saginaw and the Grand, make a natural area of settlement. The concluding chapters deal with the sources and character of the new population and present a brief resume.

The author can of course claim no more for the accuracy of the results than is warranted by the nature of the materials with which some parts of the work have

PREFACE ix

had to be done. Secondary materials, and not of the best kind, have been in some cases the only possible recourse; but where used these have been carefully pointed out. It should be said of the county histories that despite their frankly commercial nature a few of them show real insight into local problems and deal with them intelligently, while others deserve special praise for fullness of detail obviously gathered painstakingly.

In another class are the pioneer reminiscences, many of which are trustworthy and useful. The habit of keeping a diary, or journal of events, common in the early days made it possible for a pioneer to refresh the memory later; many printed reminiscences profess to be an embodiment of facts set down in this manner years before. For some phases of the subject — as the nativity of settlers, the conditions of early travel and transportation, the founding of settlements, and contemporary local opinion — this material furnishes often about all the information that is obtainable. The vollunes of the Michigan Historical Collections are a mine of this material and have been heavily drawn upon.

The early newspapers have also been used extensively. They contain much unconscious testimony of early conditions, especially in the advertisements, and in some aspects of the subject they are quite as valuable for what they led immigrants to believe about Michigan or about certain localities as for the truth of their statements. Many of them were started as advertising mediums to "boom" their localities and were widely circulated in the East by speculators.

So far as possible the author has checked these ma-

X PREFACE

terials from the more reliable classes of data, as the laws, legislative journals, executive documents, court reports, censuses and accredited monographs. References are given for all statements taken from them. The vast amount of detail from various sources which the author has examined on every point should of itself afford sufficient check to prevent serious errors.

In this pioneer attempt the aim has been to be logical, accurate and clear, rather than literary; the author will gladly welcome criticism and correction.

CONTENTS CHAPTER I

A. Introduction 1

I. Close relation of geology and geography to settle-

ment

II. Scope of treatment in this chapter

B . Influences of geographic location 1

I. Latitude and longitude

II. Glacial influence on topography, drainage and soil

III. Climate: interaction of the Great Lakes and the

westerly winds

IV. Fauna and flora

V. Population and institutions

VI. Commerce: the Great Lakes

C. Climate 2

I. Chief agents

1 . Latitude

2. Lake Michigan

3. Westerly winds

4. Topography

5. Rainfall .6. Forests

II. Characteristics

1. Equable temperature

2. Absence of extremes of temperature and rain-

fall

3. Growing period prolonged

III. Health

1. Diseases not favored

2. Influences correlative with climate

3. Compared with other states

4. Early unfavorable reports

5. Prevalence of "fever and ague"

6. Imprudences of settlers xii CONTENTS

D. Geology 10

I. The three great epochs

II. The bed rocks

1. Basin arrangement

2. Elevation

3. Importance to settlement

a. Minerals

1) Minerals important to early settle-

ment

a) Salt

(1) Constituent of soil

(2) Chemical use

(3) Common use

(4) Importance how recog-

nized

(a) By government

tax

(b) By emphasis in

early geological reports

(5) Where and how found

(a) Brine springs

(b) Salt licks

(6) Later exploitation

b) Building materials

(1) Clay

(2) Sandstone

(3) Limestone

(4) Sand and gravels

(5) Boulders

2) Other minerals slightly exploited

a) Coal

b) Gypsum

3) Mineral waters

b. Relation of bed rock to soils

1) As an original source of materials

2) As affecting present distribution

a) Limestone

b) Sandstone

c) Clay

d) Mixture over the coal meas-

ures

CONTENTS xiii

E. Soils 14

I. Formation

1. Preglacial upheavals in northern regions

2. Glacial action

II. Depth of soil

III. Fineness

1 . United States soil classification for Michigan

IV. Distribution

1. Glacial outwash aprons

2. Lake and glacial drainage

3. Morainal deposits

4. Till plains

5. Lake clay

V. General advantages of these soils

1 . Variety

a. Chemical composition

b. Mechanical composition

c. Basis for variety of flora and of

rural industries

2. Comparative warmth

a. Sand gains heat rapidly and loses

it slowly

b. Clay moderates these qualities

3. Moisture well proportioned

a. Depth and clay element prevent

drying out

b. Porosity of sand element prevents

drowning of crops

c. Absence of irreclaimable marshes

4. Easy to work

a. Fineness of surface soil

b. Comparative freedom from stones

c. Few barren outcrops

d. Not too adhesive because of mix-

ture of clay and sand

e. Not easily washed away

5. Endurance under wasteful farming due

to limestone

6. Variations, owing to predominance of

sand, clay or limestone F. Topography 18

I. Resultant of two forces considered

II. Relation to neighboring regions

III. Modifications

1 . By unequal resistance of bed rocks

2. By post-glacial deposits

IV. Forces determining area

V. The area settled before 1837

VI. The shore lands

VII. Surface configuration: how favorable to agriculture, grazing, lumbering and manufacture

1. The Grand-Maple-Saginaw Valley

2. The southeastern watershed

3. The interior hills

4. The intervales

5. The northern watershed

G. Rivers 22

I. General character

II. Southeastern rivers

1. The Raisin

2. The Huron

3. The Clinton

4. The Saginaw

5. The St. Clair

III. Central and southwestern rivers

1. The vSt. Joseph

2. The Kalamazoo

3. The Grand

IV. Importance of these rivers to early settlement

1 . French settlements at river mouths

2. American settlers seek power sites

a. Importance of water power

3. Their search facilitated by Indian trails

along the streams

4. Village sites at junction of creeks with

rivers

5. Village sites at junction of streams with

Indian trails

6. Early settlements in the eastern water

power belt

7. Water power on the southwestern rivers

8. The importance of creeks and smaller

streams

9. The regulating infiuence of small lakes 10. Transportation of logs and lumber

a. Necessity of economy

CONTENTS XV

b. Area served by a single mill

c. Extent of early lumbering

1) Confined to streams

2) Average annual product

d. Importance of streams to later

lumbering 1 1 . Navigation

a. On the eastern rivers

b. On the St. Joseph River

c. On the Kalamazoo River

d. On the Grand River

e. Improvements of navigation

H. The Great Lakes 30

I. Geological origin

II. Importance for navigation

1. Extent of use by settlers

2. Natural harbors

3. Beginnings of Great Lakes commerce

III. Importance of the fisheries

1. Extent of the early fishing industry

2. Early accounts of the Great Lakes fish

3. Varieties of fish

4. Extent of the early market

I. The inland lakes 32

I. Origin

II. Number, size and depth

III. The character of their environment: beauty

IV. Their fish and aquatic fowls

V. Attitude of the early settlers towards them

J. Lake formations . 34

I. Marl

II. Peat

III. Muck

IV. Meadow

V. Prairie

K. Flora: the forests 35

I. As a basis of soil classification

II. Relation of the forests to settlement

1 . Protection to soil

2. Effect upon climate

3. Effect upon health

4. Their density an obstacle

5. Lumbering

III. Variety

1. Compared with Great Britain

2. Causes of variety

3. Lumbering

a. Latitude

b. River valleys

c. Streams and swamps

d. Uplands

e. Kinds of soil

IV. Density

L Variations of soil with density 2. Relative positions of areas of different densities

V. Timbers indicating fertility

L. Settlement in relation to density of forest 37

I. Crops specially adapted to various densities

II. Obstacles to getting first crops

III. Methods of preparing for first crop

IV. The easiest first crop

V. Yield of the first crop

VI. Comparative quickness of yield

VII. Increase of yield with successive crops

VIII. Cost of getting first crop

IX. Attitude of settlers towards different densities

M. Wild flora and fauna useful to settlers 44

N. Obnoxious fauna 45

Chapter II

A. Effects of the War of 1812 49

I. Ill effects

1. Depopulation of the Territory

2. Destitution of the returning settlers

3. Annoyance from the Indians

4. Financial crisis

II. Good effects

1. Economic distress in the East caused emigra-

tion

2. Detroit's prominence attracted attention to

Michigan

CONTENTS xvii

3. Impulse to improvement of roads

4. Soldier-settlers

5. Lewis Cass, governor and Indian agent

B. Unfavorable reports about Michigan lands 50

I. Reports of the early surveyors

1. Connection with military bounty lands

2. When and where these surveys were made

3. Probable reasons for character of the reports

4. Why inexcusable

5. Relocation of bounty lands

6. How these reports reached intending settlers

II. Other reports

C. Favorable reports 52

I. Cass's criticism of Tifhn's report

II. The exploring expedition of 1820

III. Explorations preceding Cass

IV. Reports of travelers

V. Travelers' "Guides"

VI. Geographies and maps

VII. Newspapers and magazines

VIII. Letters from settlers

IX. Settlers visiting the East

X. Duration of the prejudice against Michigan XL Ultimate benefit of relocation of bounty lands

D. Relations with the Indians 57

I. Cass's problem

1. Influence of British presents and French

traders

2. Policy of the national government

II. Cass's qualifications

III. Indian treaties

1. Treaty of Greenville, 1795

2. Treaty of Detroit, 1807

3. Treaty of Saginaw, 1819

4. Treaty of Chicago, 1821

5. Treaty of Washington, 1836

6. Minor treaties

IV. The Black Hawk War _

1 . How connected with Michigan

2. Effect on settlement xviii CONTENTS

3. Its effects complicated with those of the cholera epidemic V. Removal of the Indians

E. The public lands and settlement 62

I. Importance of the land question; private claims;

accurate survey

II. Cass's land policy in relation to settlement

III. Significance of the rectangular system of survey

IV. Personal interest of surveyors in settlement

V. The rate of survey

VI. Establishment of land offices

VII. Regulation of land sales

1. The credit system and its repeal

2. Preemption of lands

VIII. Rate of land sales an index to settlement

IX. Speculation and banking

X. The financial crisis of 1837

F. Improvements in transportation 69

I. Primitive conditions

II. Water transportation

1. The Great Lakes

a. Passenger traffic on Lake Erie

b. Lake Michigan and ,the settlement of

western Michigan

2. The Erie Canal

3. Routes and travel from the East

a. Typical illustrations

b. Cost of water transportation

c. Immigration

4. Rivers and canals

III. Land transportation

L National military roads

a. Monroe Road

b. Fort Gratiot Road

c. Saginaw Road

d. Chicago Road

e. Maumee-Jonesville Road

f. La Plaissance Bay Road

g. Grand River Road

2. Territorial roads

a. Turnpikes

b. Railroads

c. Plank roads

3. Township roads

CONTENTS xix

G. Extension of popular government 82

I. Early abuses in government

II. Cass's democratic principles

III. Obstacles, and how overcome

IV. Extensions of the elective franchise

V. The spirit of the East in the early laws

VI. County government

1. Extent of popular control

2. Significance as an index to settlement

3. Significance of the county seat for settlement

VII. Township government

1 . Inheritances from New York and New Eng-

land

2. A school of democracy for foreigners

3. Significance as a measure of settlement

H. Small educational advantages 91

I. National land grants

II. Territorial legislation of 1827

III. The log schoolhouse and the "academy"

IV. The "Catholepistemiad"

V. Educational provisions in the state constitution of