FRENCH PIONEERS.

THE history of the French in Michigan begins with the coming of Joseph Le Carron, a to the foot of Lake Huron. In 1623, Rev. Nicholas Veil and Frere Gabriel Sagard--the first historian of Michigan—traversed the country bordering on Lake Huron In 162S-30, Jean Nicolet, the explorer of Wisconsin, traversed the upper lake region; afterward Peres Isaac Jacques and Raymbault visited the Indians along the western shores of the lake, as recorded by Peres Druillets and Marest. Then came Marquette, Joliet, La Salle, Hennepin. To those early explorers we must look for the foundation of the history of the great West, and of Michigan in particular.

LA SALLE AND HENNEPIN.

The Griffin was finished August 4. 1679, and her sails set, a trial trip made, and the name she bore bestowed upon her by Father Hennepin. On the 5th, five small cannon were placed in position. The 7th was the day appointed for entering upon that voyage over the Oitchi Gomee, or great inland seas. The morning arrived, the sun shown forth as it were a sea of gold, a favoring breeze played upon the waters, the cataract of Niagara, six miles below, reduced its roar to music, while from La Salle's new fortress the song of the Te Deum swelled upon the morning air. The sails were set, Robert de la Salle, commander of the Griffin, Father Louis Hennepin, historian and chaplain, with the pilot, and a number of hunters and trappers, were embarked, the cables which kept the little vessel fast were unloosed, and their voyage toward the setting sun entered upon.

Three days after setting out, the vessel was anchored opposite Teuchsagrondie, a Huron village then occupying the site of the present city of Detroit. From this point to the head of the St. Glair River, many Indian villages were found to exist, all of them unacquainted with the white man, save that small knowledge of him which they might have gained during the brief stay of the Jesuit fathers. Seven years after the Griffin succeeded in battling with the fierce current which then swept past the present site of Fort Gratiot, M. du Lhut caused the position to be garrisoned, and a strongly fortified trading post to be erected. This was completed in the fall of 1686, and the name of Fort St. Joseph conferred upon it, but its possession was so opposed to the ideas of French economy, that in July, 1688, the garrison received orders to evacuate the post, and to report at Michilimackinac.

On July 24, 1701, Monsieur de la Motte Cadillac, Capts. Tonti, Chacornacle and Dugue. in command of fifty regular troops, arrived at Detroit. The expedition was accompanied by a Rocollet Chaplain and a Jesuit Father, who had come as a missionary priest, together with fifty trappers, traders and hunters. Before the close of August, 1701, the first fort erected in Michigan, if we except Du Lhut's fortified trading post, at the head of the St. Glair, was a reality. This occupied the ground extending from the Joseph Campau homestead to Shelby, and thence to Woodbridge street, a point now removed from the river bank, but which at that time would represent the head of the bank itself. The position was called Fort Pontchartrain.

Within a few years, 1703, thirty Hurons from Michilimackinac became settled at Detroit. Between 1701 and September, 1703, the settlement was further strengthened by bands of Ontawa-Siuagos, Miamis, Kiskakons and Loups, all flocking to Fort Pontchartrain, to witness the magnificence of La Motte Cadillac and his command. Previous to 1706, the number of enemies made for himself by Cadillac among his own countrymen brought many and serious troubles into the very heart of the French posts at Detroit and at Michilimackinac. During the troubles at Detroit, Rev. Father Constantino and Jean la Reviere were stabbed by the Ontawas, during their circumvallation of the fort, which continued forty days; until they raised the siege.

In 1707, Jean la Blanc, second chief of the Ontawas, with Le Brochet, Meykaouka, Sakima, KinongS, Meaninau, Menekonmak and another chief visited the Governor of Montreal, and offered to make restitution; but the officer ordered them to report to Cadillac. The deputation returned to Detroit, August 6, 1707, when the commandant, Cadillac, addressed the Ontawas, Hurons, Miamis and Kiskakons in turn; the council was in session four days; but at the close the Indians agreed to deliver Le Pesant, the great disturber, into the hands of the French. He was handed over to the garrison; but unfortunately received a full pardon from Cadillac. This created a want of confidence in the French among the Miamis, Hurons and Iroquois, resultiug in the killing of three Frenchmen, and created much disaffection in every Indian village.

In September, 1708, there were only twenty-nine inhabitants of Detroit who were the actual owners of lots and houses within the stockade. Of the entire number of acres surveyed at that time—353 roods in toto those twenty-nine freeholders owned only forty-six roods, the Hurons one hundred and fifty roods, and the Chevalier de Cadillac 157 roods. The entire number of Frenchmen at the post then was sixty-three, of whom thirty-four were traders, who sold brandy, ammunition and trinkets in that and the neighboring Indian towns. During the war between France and England, which terminated in 1713, trouble after trouble surrounded Detroit. In 1712, Outagamies and Mascoutins laid siege to Fort Pontchartrain, then in charge of M. du Buisson, with thirty soldiers. The church and other buildings outside the stockade were pulled down, lest the besiegers would set fire to the pile with a view of burning the fort itself. The circumvallation of the post and hourly assaults on it, were kept up for a period of thirty days, when the Indian allies of the French arrived from their hunting expeditions— both Hurons and Miamis, drove the Outagamies and Mascoutins to their intrenchments. and confined them there for nineteen days, until in the darkness of night they withdrew to Presque Isle, twelve miles above Detroit. Thither the Hurons and Miamis pursued them, and forced a capitulation, which resulted in the massacre of all the men of both tribes, and the captivity of their wives and children. The Outagamies and Mascoutins who were not actually killed on the Island, were brought to Detroit, where the Hurons continued to destroy four, five and six per day, until the last of those warriors who laid siege to the post were no more. The massacre resulted in the death of 800 men, women and children belonging to the besieging tribes at the hands of the Hurons and Miamis.

The decade closing in 1724 was one which tried the souls of the French inhabitants of Detroit. The sale of brandy and other abuses were prohibited and a great moral change effected in the manners, customs and habits of the white garrison and settlers. A council of the Hurons, Ottawas and Pottawatomies was held near the fort June 7, 1721, under Capt. Tonti, then commandant. The great Indian Sastarexy of the Huron tribe was the principal speaker, and the results obtained were of a comparatively conciliating character, so much so that by the year 1725 the Outagamie savages acknowledged the French king in precisely the same manner as did the other allies of the French. About this period, also, the log house, known as St. Anne's Church, was built, new barracks erected, about forty-five dwelling houses brought into existence, and the new stockade, with bastions and block-houses raised. The circular road or chemin dn ronde was laid out, and numerous improvements made in the vicinity of the Government House. In 1746, the old French war may be said to renew itself; but not until 1749 did the contest with the English soldiers take any regular form. A decade later, the French power in Canada was destroyed, and in 1760 all the French possessions, from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, were in the hands of the conquering Normans and Anglo-Saxons. Capt. Bellestre, then commandant at Detroit, surrendered to Maj. Robert Rogers in October, 1760.

In 1762, the famous Indian, Pontiac, called a council of the tribes at La Riviere & l' Ecorse near Detroit, at which council the Ottawas, Chippewas and Pottawatomies, of Grand, Saginaw, Clinton, Black and St. Joseph Rivers, were present, together with the Indians of Detroit and bands of Delawares, Iroquois, Illinois and Senecas. Minavavana. head chief of the Ojib was, adopted a plan similar to that of Pontiac, and succeeded in destroying the soldiers of the English garrison at Michilimackinac. Pontiac's strategy failed at Detroit.

The historian, Bancroft, referring to Detroit and St. Clair districts as they appeared to the settlers of 1763, just previous to Pontiac's military enterprise, says: "Of all the inland settlemeats, Detroit was the largest and most esteemed. The deep, majestic river, more than n half mile broad, carrying its vast flood calmly between the straight and well defined banks, imparted a grandeur to a country whose rising grounds and meadows, plains festooned with prolific wild vines, woodlands, brooks and fountains were so mingled together that nothing was left to desire. The climate was mild and the air salubrious. Good land abounded, yielding maize, wh3at anl every vegetable. The forests were natural parks stocked with buffalo, deer, quail, partridge and wild turkey. Water fowl of delicious flavor hovered along its streams, which streams also yielded to the angler a large quantity of fish, particularly white fish. There every luxury of the table might be enjoyed at the sole expense of labor."

lies.

This cheerful region attracted both the barbarian and the child of civilization; the French had so occupied both banks of the river that their numbers were rated as high as 2,500, of who n 500 were liable to and able for military service—representing 300 or 400 French famiHowever, an enumeration made in 1764 points out just sufficient white men there to form three military companies; while four years later the census of the place places the entire population at 572. The French dwelt on farms which were about three or four acres wide on the river front, and eighty acres deep.

The fort, then under Maj. Gladwyn, did not vary much from that known in the days of French dominion. Close by, Catharine, the Pocahontas of Detroit, lived. She it was who informed Gladwyn of the intentions of the Indians; she, who related to William Tucker, one of the soldiers at the fort, the story of Pontiac's plot, and made him acquainted with the designs of that Indian chieftain, and to hor is due in full measure, the averting of that terrible doom, which hung so heavily over the English garrison of Detroit, May 6, 1763. The death of Maj. Campball at the hands of an Indian, whose uncle had biwn killed by the English at Michilmaekinac, the sixty days' siege, the capture of the English supply convoy, within sight of the fort, and the round of duty imposed upon the soldiers, are all characteristic of that time. William Tucker, one of whose descendants has taken a deep interest in the history of this district, states: "I was a sentinel on the ramparts, catching a few hours' sleep, with my clothes on and a gun by my side, for sixty days and nights." During the last day of July and the 1st of August, 1763, Capt. Dalzell's force was surprised near Maloche' house, and lost seventy men killed and forty wounded. For some years after this affair, Detroit was free from Indian assaults, treaties of peace were negotiated, and everything resumed that happy standard reached under the French. Now, however, the echoes of the Revolution were heard at Detroit; Maj. Le Noult, a Frenchman in the English service, built Fort le Noult in 1778 in anticipation of the American siege, and this name the new fortress bore until 1812, when the name Fort Shelby was conferred upon it. Soon the American General St. Clair, Anthony Wayne, Karmar, and the soldiers of the Revolution came to claim the Northwest Territory as organized by Congress in 1787. The treaty of Greenville negotiated, August, 1795, with the Indians, conveyed Detroit and the entire Northwest to the United States, and one year later, Capt. Porter, in command of a company of United States troops, entered Detroit, and placed the stars and stripes and fleur-de-lis where the English flag so recently floated. Previously, the British garrison evacuated the post, aftor coi nittiug many acts of the lowest description, and placed it in possession of an old African, with whom the keys were subsequently found.

From this period until 1S05. tho settlement of Detroit and the lake and river shore gradually advanced, which the fire of 1805 did not retard. In 1800. Tecumseh and Ellshwatawa, at the head of the Indian confederacy, threatened Detroit and the settlements along the lake and Riviere aux Hurons, or Clinton, as far north as Mackinac, but the treaty of 1807 between that enigmatical Governor—Hull--and the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies and Wyandote, was effective in allaying excitement, and in conferring a spirit of confidence on the settlers.

The war against the British, declared by Congress June 18, 1812, was unfortunate for the Northwest in many respects, as there was nothing in readinoss to meet the well-organized British troops. All this resulted in the scandalous, if not treacherous, surrender of Hull. Gen. Harrison's command eventually took possession of Detroit; Col. Lewis Cass was commissioned

Governor, and under his able administration, Michigan entered upon that political, social and commercial course which led her to her present greatness.

PRIVATE CLAIMS.

Soon after the organization of the Northwest Territory, the subject of claims to private property therein received much attention. By an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1805, lands lying in the districts of Vincennes, Kaskaskia and Detroit, which were claimed by virtue of French or British grants, legally and fully executed, or by virtue of grants issued under the authority of any former act of Congress by either of the Governors of the Northwest or Indiana Territory, which had already been surveyed, were, if necessary, to be re-surveyed; and persons claiming lands under these grants were to have until November 1, 1805, to give notice of the same. Commissioners were to be apppointed to examine, and report at the next session of Congress. An act was also passed, approved April 25, 1806, to authorize the granting of patents for lands, according to Government surveys that had been made, and to grant donation rights to certain claimants of land in the district of Detroit, and for other purposes. Another act was approved May 11, 1820, reviving the powers of the Commissioners for ascertaining and deciding on claims in the district of Detroit, and for settling the claims to land at Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, in the Territory of Michigan; the Commissioners discharged the duties imposed on them, and in their report to Congress in reference to the claims, they said that the antiquity of settlement being, in their view, sufficiently established, and that they being also satisfied that the Indian title must be considered to have been extinguished, decide favorably on the claims presented. About seventy-five titles were confirmed, and patents for the same were sent to the proper parties by the Government. In relation to the Prairie du Chien titles, they reported "that they mot few difficulties in their investigations; that, notwithstanding the high antiquity which may be claimed for the settlement of that place, no one perfect title founded on French or British grants, legally authenticated, had been successfully made out; and that but few deeds of any sort have been exhibited." This they attributed to the carelessness of the Canadians in respect to whatever concerned their land titles, and accords with whatever is known in this regard, of the French population throughout the country. They therefore came to the conclusion that whatever claims the people of the place possessed, and might have for a confirmation of their land titles, they must be founded upon proof of continued possession since the year 1796. The Commissioners further say, that "since the ancestors of these settlers were cut off, by the treaty which gave the Canadas to the English, from all intercourse with their parent country, the people have been left, until within a few years, quite isolated, almost without any government but their own; and, although the present population of these settlements are natives of the countries which they inhabit, and, consequently, by birth citizens of the Northwest yet, until a few years, they have had as little political connection with its government as their ancestors had with the British. Ignorant of their civil rights, careless of their land titles, docility, habitual hospitality, cheerful submission to the requisitions of any government which may be set over them, are their universal characteristics." In reference to grants by the French and English Governments, the Commissioners say they "have not had access to any public archives, by which to ascertain with positive certainty whether either the French or English ever effected a formal extinguishment of the Indian title at many points, which also may be said of the land now covered by the city of Detroit, that the French Government was not accustomed to hold formal treaties for such purposes with the Indians, and when the lands have been actually procured from them, either by virtue of the assumed right of conquest, or by purchase, evidence of such acquisition is rather to be sought in the traditionary history of the country, or in the casual or scanty relations of travelers, than among collections of state papers. Tradition does recognize the fact of the extinguishment of the Indian title by the old French Government, before its surrender to the English; and by the same species of testimony, more positive because more recent, it is established also, that, in the year 1781, Patrick Sinclair, Lieutenant Governor of the province of Upper Canada, while the English Government had jurisdiction over this country, made a formal purchase from the Indians of the lands comprehending the settlmtmts at St. Clair and in the vicinity of Mackinac.

MICHIGAN IN 1805.

From a report made to the Congress of the United States, October 10, 1805, by Judge A. B. Woodward, and William Hull, Governor up to the period of his treason, a fair idea of Michigan Territory of that date may be gleaned. It also deals very clearly with the law of right upon which the private claims were granted.

By the act of the Congress of the United States, establishing the territory, the government thereof was to commence from and after the 30th day of June, 1805. The Presiding Judge arrived at Detroit on Saturday, June 29, and the Governor on July 1, 1805. The Associate Judge, who was previously a resident of the Territory, was already there. July 2, the Governor administered to the several officers the oaths of office, and on the same day the operation of the government commenced. It was the unfortunate fate of the new government to begin in a scene of the deepest public and private calamity by the conflagration, which destroyed all the buildings of Detroit, June 11, 1805. On the arrival of the new government, a part of the people were found encamped on the public grounds in the vicinity, and the remainder were scattered through the neighboring settlements both on the American and British territory. The place which bore the name Detroit was a spot of about two acres, completely covered with buildings and combustible materials. The narrow intervals of fourteen or fifteen feet used as streets or lanes only excepted, and the whole was environed by a strong net work of piquets. The circumjacent ground, the bank of the river excepted, was a wide common, and though assertions are made regarding the existence among the records of Quebec, of a charter from the King of France confirming the common as an appurtenance to the town, it was either the property of the United States, or at least such as individual claims did not pretend to cover. The folly of attempting to rebuild the town in the original mode was obvious to every mind; yet there existed no authority either in the country or the new government to dispose of the adjacent ground; hence had already arisen a state of dissension which required the interposition of some authority to quiet. Some of the inhabitants, destitute of shelter and hopeless of any prompt arrangements of government, had re-occupied their former ground, and a few buildings had already been erected in the midst of the old ruins. Another portion of the inhabitants had determined to take possession of the adjacent public grounds and to throw themselves on the liberality of the United States Government, either to make them a donation of the ground as a compensation for their sufferings, or to accept a very moderate price for them. If they could have made any arrangements of the various pretensions of individuals, or could have agreed on any plan of a town, they would have soon begun to build; but the want of a civil authority to decide interfering claims or to compel the refractory to submit to the wishes of a majority, had yet prevented them from carrying any particular measure into execution. On the 1st of July, the inhabitants had assembled for the purpose of resolving on some definite mode of procedure. The Judges prevailed on them to defer their intentions for a short time, giving them assurances that the Governor would shortly arrive, and that every arrangement in the power of their domestic government would be made for their relief. On these representations they consented to defer their measure for fourteen days. In the evening of the same day, the Governor arrived; it was his first measure to prevent any encroachments being made on the public lands. The situation of the distressed inhabitants then occupied the attention of the Executive for two or three days. The result of these discussions was to proceed to lay out a new town, embracing the whole of the old town and the public lands adjacent; to state to the people that nothing in the nature of a title could be given under any authorities then possessed by the new government; and that the Executive could not be justified in holding out any charitable donations whatever as a compensation for their sufferings; but that every personal exertion should be used to obtain a confirmation of the arrangements about to be made and to obtain the liberal attention of the Government of the United States for their distress. A town was accordingly surveyed and laid out, and the want of authority to impart any regular title without the subsequent sanction of Congress being first impressed and clearly understood, the lots were exposed for sale under that condition. Where the purchaser of a lot was a proprietor in the old town, he was at liberty to extinguish title to former property for his new acquisition, foot for foot, and was expected to pay only for the surplus at the rate expressed in his bid. A consider