HISTORY OF FIRST INDUSTRIES. He won To the visitor of to-day, witnessing the vast resources and accumulation of capital wielded in this section, it may seem almost incredible that some of the wielders of this capital commenced business only a few short years ago with nothing but their own indomitable energy and perseverance. This has been accomplished, not by speculation and the adroit, lucky turning of Fortune's wheel, but by actual creation of much wealth, added to the store of human comforts, using only the advantages supplied by Nature's abundant and common storehouse. The settler on any of our Western prairies, and the axman who enters on the primeval forests where no sign or mark of man's destructive force or redeeming power is seen or felt, is frequently the subject of strange reflections. As he follows his plow, turning up the virgin soil, that through all the ages has remained undisturbed, or hews down the stately tree that for a thousand years has flourished and grown, unnoticed and uncared for by the hand of man. he wondqrs how it occurs that he. of all the people that lived and still live on the face of the earth, swarming as it does with so many millions, should be the first to appropriate to his comfort and convenience the blessings so long held in reserve in Nature's vast storehouse. ders, too, why his race should require all the resources of the earth, the productions of the forests, mines, rivers, lakes, oceans; of the soil plowed, planted, cultured and garnered; the flocks and herds, feeding and gamboling on a thousand hills, for his subsistence; while other races have remained, from generation to generation in all the untamed wilderness of the wild deer and elk, on which they subsist. What of the race that but yesterday was here? Have these rivers, fields and forests, now so peaceful, always been Bo calm and still? or have they, like the old world, been the scene of some sanguinary and savage conflict? We speculate in vain on the long-ago dwellers upon the banks of these pleasant streams. Their war-dance and savage yells may have boon the only sound that ever awakened the stillness of these lands; or a race long extinct may have plowed and sowed, and builded and loved and worshiped, and cultivated all the graces and amenities of civilized life; but the records of whose deeds and virtues have been obliterated by the convulsions of Time's relentless changes. Such must have been the musings of those persevering and energetic pioneers, who, severing the ties of home and kindred and early association, plunged into the wilds of this county and carved from the rugged forces of nature the comfortable homes they now enjoy. FUR TRADER?. Incidental to the history of the entire Northwest is the record of the traders in furs, although the region covered by this volume does not contain the site made noted by the location of the chief trading post. Many sub-posts were established throughout this State and the adjoining States, especially where streams and lakes made the point easy of access to the dealers. There is required here, howevor, only a general sketch of this earliest of commercial undertakings. The Northwest was visited and explored by French voyageurs and missionaries from Canada during the seventeenth century. The object of the former was gain; the purpose of the Jesuit fathers was the convorsion of the savages. As early as 1624, the traders were operating about Lake Huron and Mackinac. Previous to 1679, a considerable traffic in furs had sprung up with Indian tribes in the region of Ouisconain. That year, more than two hundred canoes, laden with furs, passed Mackinac, bound for Montreal. The commerce of the lakes was then carried on solely in birch-bark canoes. The lightness and strength of the little craft enabled the French explorers to make portages or navigate large bodies of water with comparative safety. When the military possession of the Northwestern domain passed from France to Great Britain in 1760, the relationship of the fur trade to the Government changed. France, as is mentioned elsewhere in these pages, used the license of traders as a bond of fealty to the King. The policy of England was to grant exclusive charters to particular companies. The Hudson Bay Company had grown rich and powerful between 1670 and 1700. Its success excited the envy of other capitalists, and rival organizations wore formed. The original company purchased their furs at certain trading stations. The newer firms sent out their voyageurs into every nook of the land to buy up the furs, or, indeed, to catch the fur-bearing animals themselves. This competition diminished the profits of the business. In 1815, Congress prohibited foreigners dealing in furs in the United States or Territories. This action founded John Jacob Astor's colossal fortune. Mr. \stor organized the "American Fur Company," he being the sole owner, in 1809. In connection with the Northwest Company, he bought out the Mackinac Company, and formed the Southwest Company. The war of 1812 interrupted the existence of that organization; but it was revived in 1816, as an American institution. Considerable trade is still carried on in Northern Michigan, but mainly by individuals. Fur traders, or at least their employes, were the first explorers after Nicolet. They were cotemporary with the Jesuit missionaries. Those traders sent from the St. Lawrence hatchots, knives, blankets and other articles coveted by the savages, to exchange with them for furs. Their employes, the voyageurs, made their journeys into the far-off regions in birch bark canoes, of the lightest possible construction; for they had frequently to be carried by hand around rapids, and from one stream to another, along carrying places, called portages. They usually made up their outfit at Quebec or Montreal, and, ascending the Ottawa during the summer, and subsequently the French River and the lower lakes, proceeded to the various tribes inhabiting the region of the upper lakes, either wintering at Indian villages or at stations that had been established by them in their neighborhood. With their peltries, gathered during tho winter or early spring, they returned usually the next summer; but sometimes they were required to make longer voyages. The fur traders were, as a class, men of some wealth, of respectable families, and of considerable intelligence, and were possessed of enterprisiug and adventurous habits. They found the fur trade more profitable or more congenial to their dispositions than agricultural pursuits. Their menials, the voyageurs, penetrated the fastnesses of the Western wilderness with a perseverance and courage almost without a parallel in the history of explorations of savage countries. Indeed, they out-savaged the savage in that respect. The French Government early manifested a disposition to extend her dominion in America. At the very commencement of the seventeenth century, she had colonized A cadia. In 1608, Quebec was founded. In 1663, New France (Canada) was made a royal colony. The reports circulated in France of the advantages of the fur trade were such as to induce many of the nobility and gentry to invest their fortunes in the New World. With this patronage, and the constantly increasing number of colonists, New France grew rapidly in commerce, the most lucrative branch of which was dealing in furs. The traders and voyageurs were the usual agents employed by the French Government to extend and uphold its dominion in tho Northwest. The traffic in furs maintained with the Indians constituted the only value of this region in the eyes of Frenchmen, so long as France continued her dominion over it. The regular fur trader was licensed by the Government, this license generally stipulating the territory in which he was permitted to operate. It was drawn in the nature of a colonial commission, conferring on the licensed trader the authority of a military officer over the voyageurs in his employ. It also made him a commercial agent of the Government among the Indians. He was frequently employed as special agent of the colony, to make treaties. Sometimes he was required to lead his voyageurs upon war expeditions, in return for his fur trading privileges. employes therefore were always around, equipped nnd familiarized with military duties, partly from necessity of defending themselves from attacks of hostile Indians, and partly to be enabled to carry out any requisition made by the Government. The dominion of Franco over the Western country was thus made self-sustaining. But the Government found some trouble in controlling the traffic in furs. There grew up an illicit trade maintained by couriers de bois, in contradistinction to the regular traders or voyageurs. They followed the Indians in their wanderings, and sometimes became as barbarous as the red man. life eeemed to wean them from all thought or desire for civilization. A few years of forest They spread over the Northwest, the outlaws of the forest. The following Although rsaiarin^ essential aid, at times, to the Goverment, the King of France, in 1699, launched a declaration against them. hymn of those olden travelers is still remembered: Derrièr chez nous yátun elang, En roulant ma boule. (Chorus.) Trois beaux canards s'en vout baignant, Rouli, roulant, ma boule roulant, En roulant ma boule, roulant. (Chorus.) En roulant ma boule. Trois beaux canards s'en von baignant En roulant ma boule, Le flls du roi s'en va chassant, Rouli, roulant, ma boule roulant, Ed roulant, ma boule, roulant, En roulant ma boule. Le flls du roi s'en va chassant En roulant ma boule, Avec son grand fusil d'argent. THE PINE. A few words in relation to this tree, the object of the early settlements of most of MichiUnlike the oak and most other trees, the pine is not reproductive; when a generation matures or is cut off, it will not again produce a crop on the same soil. It is confined to its peculiar territory, and when we remember that the average age of a pine tree is only 300 years, it is seen that our pine forests were not in existence when Columbus discovered America. The pine evidently succeeded some growth that could not be reproduced, and it evidently exhausted the soil of the special material for its growth, leaving it, however, in a condition to grow oak and a variety of other productions. In the growth of a pine forest there is a constant death and decay of inferior or overshadowed trees, and comparatively a small number come to a condition suitable for the lumberman's ax. The pine has several causes of decay. There are no known insects that originate decay, but several that hasten it, when once started from any cause. The three most prominent causes of decay in the pine are punk or rot, wind shakes and loose knots. The punk is a kind of cancerous growth on the side of a tree, that eats into its very vitals. A low state of vitality will produce it. The black knot is a decayed limb that has not been closely grown around, and induces decay. The wind-shake is a most exasperating defect of lumber, occurring near the butt, and is caused by the bending of the tree in high winds, when the annual growths are separated by sliding on each other. Another external enemy of the pine tree is tire. A pine tree that has been scorched must be utilized, or the insects will render it useless. Among these is the pine weevil, tornicus, zylcgraphus, which goes for a sound tree, but not a live one. There is another worm that goes straight to the heart, leaving a small, black hole. The hurricane may also be stated as one of the causes of destruction. A full-grown pine is from ninety to 100 feet high, averaging 125. A log sixteen feet long will average 250 feet of lumber, although some have yielded ten times this amount. The roots of a tree are supposed to equal one-half the lumber above ground. The diameter of a log aver ages thirty inches; sometimes it is six feet. A pine, as found standing in the forest, has branches for the top third of its height. The task of reproducing the pine forests that are now falling with such remorseless rapidity, is a hopeless one, and science and art will combine to produce a substitute, for it is only a question of time as to when an article made of so common a material as pine shall be eagerly sought after as a curiosity, to be carefully preserved among the bric-a-brac of future generations. In years to come, when the pine lumber which is so plentiful to-day may have been superseded by a material resulting from the combined art and skill of the chemist and mechanic, it will be interesting to read an account of the peculiarities of lumbering on the Black River, the hazardous, uncertain and excitable part of which is even now among the things that were, having been supplanted by railway transportation This was almost exclusively. Realizing the rapidity with which old things are passing away and all things becoming new, the methods of conducting the lumbering operations on the Black and St. Clair Rivers will be here recorded. Lands were purchased up the rivers by the various lumber companies, who sent an expert to estimate the amount of lumber per acre. done in various ways; the most simple was to count the trees, noting their average size, and, by well tried rules estimating three, four or more treas to the 1,000 feet, arrive at a close approximation of the yield. On the approach of winter, camps were sent into the woods—so many teams, so many men, so much feed and so much provision. Contracts were sometimes made at a certain price per thousand. The logs were cut in lengths of twelve, fourteen and sixteen feet, and exceptionally longer for specific purposes; hauled to the river to await the breaking-up of the ice and the rise of the river in the spring. Every lumberman had a registered mark, which was one or more initials, or some other device, cut into the log. When the freshet came on, the logs consigned to the stream floated on with the current; but in the sometimes narrow and tortuous stream there was not unfrequently a jam, where millions of feet piled up, tier upon tier, to finally break loose and, with the accompanying flood, hurry on, to be canght in the booms below. The boom was a floating dam kept in position by piers or wing rudders, which could be adjusted to maintain its position by the current itself. From the boom connected with the mill, the logs were hauled up by various devices and sawed into timber, scantling or boards, as they seemed best to work up. The boards were sawed one and one-eighth of an inch thick, so that they could be dressed down to one inch with little waste. The old North Atlantic method of marking the number of feet upon the board was not followed here. The manner of shipping bj the river, formerly the only method of getting lumber to market, was by means of rafts, after being sawed. A raft was formed in this way: The lum ber was laid up in cribs composed of threa grab planks at the bottom, about five feet apart, with three two inch auger holes to insert the grub-pins of hard wood, four feet long. The crib was made up this way: 12x16 feet, or twelve feet square, by alternating the layers lengthwise and crosswise, until from ten to twenty tiers of boards were laid, when they were securely pinned together. Six of these were placed end to end by coupling planks, and a stick of timber secured across each end. To this was pivoted the oar, a stick thirty-six feet long, with a board blade on the water end. By means of a spring-pole, the forward end of the raft was turned up to some extent, to facilitate its movements over the various obstructions. Thus arranged, it was called a "rapid piece." A rope ran from end to end to enable the raftsmen to hold on, as the piece might become submerged on diving over the rapids. Each crib would contain about 3,500 feet. It would take from two to eight men to manage one of these pieces. And what was called a "fleet," consisted of twenty of these pieces, all under the charge of a pilot with his gang. CUTTING THE KEY LOG. Reference is made to a jam in the river. To clear this jam was what is, even now, known as cutting the key log. The first thing to be done was to find out where the jam occurred, and then to discover what is called "key log," that it to say, the log which holds the base of the "jam." An old experienced "stream driver" is soon on the spot, for the news is soon carried up stream that there is a "jam" below. Every minute is of consequence, as logs are coming down the "jam" increasing in strength. The "key log" being found, there is a cry for volunteers to cu it. Now, when you consider that there are some hundred big logs of timber forming a dam, and the instant the key log is cut the whole fabric comes rushing down with a crush, yon will see that unless the ax-man gets instantly away he is crushed to death. There are usually in a camp plenty of men ready to volunteer; for a man who cuts a key log is looked upon by the rest of the loggers just as a soldier is by his regiment when be has done any act of bravery. The man I saw cut away a log which brought down the whole jam of logs, was a quiet, young fellow, some twenty years of age. He stripped everything save his drawers; a strong rope placed under his arms, and a gan^ of smart young fellows held the end. The man shook hands with his comrades, and quietly walked out on the logs, ax in hand. I do not know how the loggy-road one felt, but I shall never forget my feelings. The man was quietly walking to what very likely might be his death. At any moment the jam might break of its own accord, was and also if he cut the key log, unless he instantly got out of the way, he would be crushed by the falling timber. There was a dead silence while the keen ax was dropped with force and skill on the pine log. Now the notch was nearly half through the log, one or two more blows, and a crack was heard. The men got in all the slack of the rope that held the ax-man; one more blow and there was a crash like thunder, and down came the wall of timber, to all appearances on the ax-man. Like many others, I rushed to help haul away the poor fellow, but to my great joy I saw him safe on the bank, certainly sadly braised and bleeding from sundry wounds, but safe. THE SAW MILL CHANGES. Among the most marvelous of the many wonderful things which distinguish the United States from other nations are the results which havo grown out of the possession of immense forests of valuable timber in stimulating inventive genius to the preparation of an article of building material so cheap as to enable the poorest to have a comfortable home, while at the same time so excellent in character as to be not only suited, but indispensable to the working classes. Those more readily accessible regions of the continent which possessed these forest growths in the greatest abundance were among the first to receive large accessions to their population, drawn together at those centers which presented the easiest access to cheap building material, not less than for their personal safety from a savage foe. It has not until the demand for lumber far exceeded the ability of the "greatest" mills of half a century ago to supply, leading the manufacturers to feel the need of a more extended system of production, that the star of empire made any progress westward, or it became a possibility to settle upon the prairies of the West, or to develop the mineral resources which have already shown our nation to be the peer of, if it does not excel, all others in the extent of its possessions. To possess is to need. And the cheap building material which the cheap mills of the days long gone by enabled a scanty population to utilize, stimulated a more extended immigration, with its increased needs, as well as a higher order of inventive genius to increase the supply. The mills of the olden time were, first, the windmill, with its uncertain power, scarce exceeding that of the men who ran the pit saws which were then in a measure superseded, and whose indignation at the effort to lessen their manual labor caused them to mob the owner and tear down his machinery. Second, the adaptation of a current water-wheel of scarcely greater power, if more reliable, run by the natural current of a small stream. Next came the simple flutter-wheel, to impart motion to which required the building of dams to hold large bodies of water, which should at all times be available. But for large operations, the flutter-wheel was found to possess too little power, and the overshot or undershot wheel became a necessity, to bo superseded later by the adaptation of turbine-wheels, now so much in favor with mill owners who control water power. For the first fifty years of our national growth, as well as dur ing the preceding portion of the world's history, none of the mills were equipped with any thing more than a single upright saw working in a gate, and when another saw was added, as the inceptive idea of the gang, which quickly succeeded with its large number of saws, words could scarcely express the astonishment of all who saw the working of the bold innovation. Up to this timo, all the lumber which was manufactured had been edged upon the top of the log after it was turned down; an auxiliary saw was not thought of, for the buzz saw, just beginning to be used, was considered a most dangerous piece of machinery. But the increased manufacture growing out of an increase in the power and an increase in the number of saws, led to the introduction of the small circular or "buzz" saw, which was at once found to nearly double the capacity of the mill. It is needless for us to enlarge upon the introduction of steam power in the saw mill, or to follow the original idea of an engine, 6x8 inches, attached to the lower end of tho pitman or saw gate, through its successive stages of development and enlargement to the present time, when the Corliss, or Estes, or other well-known engines, of a power from ten to one hundred times greater capacity than was the original device, are by the thousand in number engaged in turning out lumber, each in one season aggregating a greater manufacture than were all the saw mills of the country combined at a period scarcely fifty years in tho past. The old gate saw was superseded by the muley, with a reduction of friction equal to thirty or fifty per cent increase in cutting capacity. The muley gave way to the circular, and |