Southern Peninsula-Mineral Country-Colonization. 487 This region, however, is celebrated for its healthy climate, and its freedom from bilious and pulmonary affections. It will be perceived from this hasty glance, that, physically, Michigan possesses within itself everything that an independent republic can require:-rich pasture-lands, unsurpassed grain soils, timber of great size and variety, both hard and soft, large quantities of which are exported not only to the west and south, but also to the seaboard-lakes, rivers and mill-streams, in abundance; fish, salt-springs and plaster quarries, copper, iron, zine, silver, coal, limestone, sandstone and marl; a climate as moderate as that of Pennsylvania, and one of the driest in America, and, above all, it is so shaped, and so surrounded by water, that the greater portion of it is accessible to large vessels. it is probably not surpassed in the United States; but the grasses and clovers do not succeed so well without plaster, and other manures. 4. The prairies, chiefly in the western part of the state, and limited in size, consist of a deep, black, vegetable mould, and resemble the best lands in Illinois; they are generally above the level of the surrounding country. 5. The Burr Oak Plains appear like cultivated orchards. The soil is composed of a mixture of the earth of the prairies, and the white oak openings; abounding in lime, as it does, it is eminently productive, and, next to the prairies, is preferred for agriculture. 6. The marshes, or meadows, are a striking and peculiar feature of the state. Exceedingly abundant, wet in winter, but generally dry enough to mow, formed of vegetable mould and marl, they are covered with a dense growth of Michigan was first colonized by the long grasses, affording two tons to the French, about the year 1671, and the acre, and fully recompense for the com- existence of native copper was ascerparative difficulty of growing the culti- tained early in the eighteenth century. vated grasses. As pasture they make The settlements, however, were few and excellent beef, and every thing prospers far between, the European population on them. They were a marked element being principally engaged in the fur of success in the early settlement of the trade, while a few devoted missionaries state. 7. The lakes number not less passed their lives in a vain endeavor to than 3,000; "exceeding in number and convert the Indians to Christianity. Cabeauty all others perhaps on the globe." dets of good families appear to have Most of them contain rich beds of marl, been among the earlier settlers, if we nearly pure carbonate of lime, mixed can judge from the names still remainwith petrified shells. Of course, they ing, and the uniform politeness of the give rise to numerous streams and rivers; French habitans, which have survived and in consequence good mill-sites are to be met with every few miles. Both the lakes and streams abound in fine fish. The highest land in the state, or the "water-shed," in Hillsdale county, is 633 feet above Lake Michigan. The average height of the peninsula is 160 feet above the surface of the lakes; but the ponds, forming the sources of the rivers, are chiefly on the greatest elevation. III. The upper half of the southern peninsula, north of Grand River, constitutes the fine country, generally sandy, and if the borders along the lakes be excepted, as yet sparsely settled, except by those engaged in the lumber business. IV. The mineral country, including the whole of the upper peninsula, with its primitive rocks, long winters, heavy growth of timber, and broken country, will not probably attract the attention of farmers, to any great extent, until the rest of the state is thickly inhabited. nearly all other characteristics of the old régime. Detroit was planted in 1701, by M. de la Motte Cadillac, with one hundred men and a Jesuit; at which period buffalo ranged wild through the woods. In 1760 this country fell into the hands of the British. In 1766 we find the Hudson Bay Company extending their operations to this territory; and in 1783, the North-west Company was formed, for the purpose of collecting furs in Michigan. The following table exhibits the product of their trade for one year previous to 1774: Wolf skins.. Elk skins Deer skins. Deer skins, dressed Buffalo robes. and a quantity of castorum. 700 3,800 act of Congress. During 1812-13, it was 750 again, in consequence of General Hull's 1,200 surrender, for a short time once more in 500 possession of the British. At this time cultivation was conducted to a very Montreal was the principal depot of limited extent, and in the most antiquat the company, whence the skins were shipped to England. Beavers have become all but extinct; and the wolverine, from which the state obtains its sobriquet, is all but unknown in the southern peninsula. This company finally disposed of its interest to the American Fur Company, organized by John Jacob Astor. ed modes; schools were almost unknown; commerce was limited to the at this day, no perceptible influence for immediate wants of the people; and, By degrees, as early as 1820, enterprisgood remains from the early settlements. ing Americans began to find their way further into the interior; but it was not till about 1834 that any general immigration commenced, and from 1836 to 1840, the great bulk of the American population entered the state. They were chiefly young persons, or newly married couples, from Vermont, New-Hampshire, and other New-England states, and New-York, principally the western pottion of it. In 1836 the territory was erected into a state. The energy, intelligence, education, and spirit of the earlier American settlers, have given a peculiar character to Michigan, which it still retains. In 1772 a mass of native silver, now deposited in the British Museum, was found on the shore of Lake Huron, and in 1773 a company, for the purpose of working the mines, headed by the Duke of Gloucester, was chartered by the British government; but after considerable expenditure of means, the adventure was found unprofitable and abandoned. By the treaty of 1783 the territory was virtually ceded to the United States, but was still withheld, by England, from actual It will be remembered possession, till 1796. At this period great that in 1837-8, the disastrous commerignorance regarding Michigan prevail- cial revulsion occurred, and thousands ed in the East, the fur companies pro- of city mercantile men were suddenly bably considering it to be their interest cast from opulence into poverty; numto keep out the American population as bers of these, with their families, found long as possible. It has been stated their way to this state; a large portion that the Virginian soldiers' claims, after- of them became farmers; others were wards located, in the Scioto valley in scattered among the rising villages; and Ohio, were at first settled in Michigan, thus, from the first, the polished manbut changed from the current belief that ners, the educated ability, and the practhis state was one vast swamp, with tised experience of our largest eastern merely a belt of harder land around it. cities were sown broadcast over the counLess than forty years ago a map of the try, to produce, in the present generaterritory was published in New-York tion, a most promising harvest. describing it as such. There were no reigners to a very limited extent have roads into the interior, the only means sought this state as a home, but have of travel being by Indian trails, and passed round the lakes to Wisconsin, the French population were settled upon lowa, and Illinois. The following table, the Detroit and St. Clair rivers, and from the census of 1850, will give a just the small streams eftering into them. idea of the population. The Hollanders, On the 11th of January, 1805, Michigan as well as some of the Germans, have was erected into a separate territory by colonized by themselves:→→→ TABLE OF THE NATIVITIES OF THE POPULATION OF MICHIGAN, 1850, District of Columbia Fo 14,677 140,648 2,003 496 12 Missouri. 92 19 Iowa 59 34 Wisconsin 332 30 California 3 4 Territories. 36 25 England 10,620 101 Ireland 14.439 Wales. Fur Companies-Population-Farms-Church Property. 127 Russia. 489 Acres improved land, (1850) 1,929,110; southern Canada to the Detroit River, unimproved land in farms, 2,454,780 and forming a united line from Chiacres. Cash value of farms, $51,872,446; cago to New-York city. The chief buaverage cash value per acre, $11.83; siness of Detroit is forwarding, shipditto in Louisiana, $13.71. building, foundries, steam-engine shops The southern half of the state is now saw-mills-the logs being procured from planted with fine farms, containing St. Clair and Saganaw-tanneries, togehouses, out-buildings, and barns, not in- ther with the usual stores of a prosperferior to those of any portion of the United States; and beautiful villages of from 500 to 5,000 inhabitants, laid out and built with the taste and neatness that characterize the New-Englanders, while schools and churches everywhere abound. In the year 1850 Michigan contained 362 places of worship, being in a ratio of one church to every 1,098 souls; and the total value of church property was $723,200. This, however, does not fairly represent the church accommodation, as schoolhouses are extensively used as places of worship, where the denomination is not yet sufficiently numerous or wealthy to erect a building for itself. ous city. Some wholesale business is done, but not as much as might be expected, the communication with the East by means of the lakes and the New-York Canal and rail-roads being so easy and cheap. A rail-road also runs to Pontiac, about thirty miles N. W.; and several plank roads are completed, the longest of which is about one hundred and thirty miles. The best of these pay dividends not exceeding ten per cent. per annum on the cost, besides reserving a sinking-fund for repairs; but every year the stock is becoming more valuable. The city is lit with gas, and supplied with water by a steam. apparatus owned by the corporation. The hotels are numerous in proportion to the population, and the best of them are fine buildings, bearing a high reputation. Three daily papers, two agricultural, se$84,050 veral weekly, secular and religious, and 59,550 two monthly magazines, are published 82,800 here. The following table shows the statistics of the leading denominations in 1850: Name. Baptists Congregational Episcopal.. Number of 58 29 25. .103. 67. 42. Total value. *142,650 *142,650 From the first organization of the 159,775 state, peculiar and anxious attention Detroit is the principal city, and till has been paid to popular education; and of late years contained the capitol of perhaps no new state in the Union has the state. This is now located at Lan- greater reason to feel proud of its prosing. The population of Detroit is a lit- gress in this respect. Michigan was the tle over 30,000.† It has not grown first state to establish a constitutional ofwith the rapidity of many other wes- ficer, under the name of superintendent of tern cities, probably in consequence public instruction. The system is wide of the scanty settlement of the heavy and comprehensive, founded on the Prustimbered country immediately around, sian scheme, and may be described as and the unusual proportion of villages follows:-A general supervising head of throughout the rest of the state. The Cen- the department (the superintendent), a tral Rail-road to Chicago (commenced by university in which education is free, the state, but now owned by a Boston governed by a president, who is apcompany) begins here, and will shortly pointed by a board of regents, the latconnect with the Great Western Rail- ter being elected by the people; branchroad, running from Niagara Falls, through es of the university, in various parts of the state, to act as feeders, at present in abeyance; and a system of primar schools under the management of c C. F. This is so in the census tables, and I do not sup† In 1819, 1,040; in 1824, 1,325, and 396 buildings. pose it to be a mistake. tain township officers, with a large fund sufficient to afford three months, at least, of education in the year, free of cost to the pupils. To this may be added a normal school; three departments are organized in the university, viz.:-science and arts, medicine, agricultural and mechanical art, including natural history, che mistry, &c. &c. The following statistics are brought down to December, 31, 1851. Disbursements of the state for the University since 1837. School Fund invested, (annually increasing from sale of lands,). School Districts... Children residing in do. Do. attending school.. Paid to teachers, 1851.. Volumes in Township Libraries.. $286,928 ing in Lake Erie, and in the fall of the year proceeding northwards, when they are caught, salted, and barrelled. Some twenty other species of good eatable fish frequent the lakes, and every year the pursuit of them becomes of greater commercial importance. The export, annually, of all sorts, is estimated at $300,000. A grant of land has lately been made by the federal government for the construction of a canal at the Sault Ste. Marie, to connect Lakes Huron and Superior. It is intended to be $811,000 large enough for the deepest vessels, and 143,222 will probably be finished in two years. For several years the topographical 97,158 corps of the United States army (at present under the command of Captain John N.Macomb) have been employed in surveying the Lakes, and have completed them to the west of Mackinaw. The maps are monuments of great skill, perwell with any executed under the diseverance, and ability, and will compare rection of European governments. 3,307 115,165 .$154,469 A mill tax is annually levied to purchase books for these libraries. Both the university and primary schools own large tracts of land, the proceeds of which, as sold, are funded. The university is located at Ann Arbor, the normal school at Ypsilanti, and both possess handsome, substantial, and convenient buildings. A good library and museum belong to the university. Besides these, there are forty academies, theological institutions, literary societies, &c., incorporated by act of the legislature, and a number of private seminaries not so incorporated. There exists a general plank-road law, and such roads are now made, or being made, in all directions. There is a rail-road in the south, commencing at Toledo, O., and Monroe, Mn., both on Lake Erie, and running partly through Michigan, partly through Indiana, to Chicago. It connects with the Ohio rail-roads, and these with the New-York Southern Rail-road. It was commenced by the state, but is now owned by a New-York company. There is no finished canal in the state. The fisheries on the Upper and Lower Lakes are of great importance, those for catching trout and white-fish especially. The white-fish are migratory, liv. * Trout. Salmo amethystes (Mn.); white fish, Corregonus albus (Les). Besides these, the most valuable are, pickerel, Lucioperca Americana; pike, Esox reticulatus; muskelonge, E. estor; catfish, Timelodus catus; herring, Hyodon tergisus; sturgeon, Sturio maculosus, (growing to six or seven feet long,) and siskowit, a species of salmon. A marked peculiarity of most of the Lake fish is the quantity of fat, resembling that of quadrupeds, which they contain-entirely different from the salt-water fish. While their flavor differs from that of the latter, it is much more delicate and richer than that of river fish. The brook trout is found in abundance in the Lake Superior country. Eels are unknown. The following tables are taken from the state census of 1850, and Mr. Lanman's History of Michigan: Various Statistics-Meteorological Register-Climate, &c. 491 Besides these, large qantities of barrel staves and heads are annually exported, and the flour barrels and fish barrels consume a large quantity of timber, which leaves the state for ever. The Army Meteorological Register, (Washington, D. C., 1851,) affords the following data regarding the cli mate: છે કે 8.... 81.58.... N. .... Fair Sault Ste. Marie..12. 39.82....17.64....37.39....61.79....42.47.... 98. Fort Gratiot....... 9....46.96....25.77....43.22....67.44....48.02.... 96.... Dearborn Arsenal, 1....49.21....30.73....51.43....66.21....48.50....100. ....45° 51' 00" Cloudy....29.588....460 29′ 55′′ 5.... 95.00.... S. ....Fair 4....46.18....25.56....45.06....66.96....47.16.... 94.... 22....109.00.... N. Fort Jesup, Louis.12....65.81....49.79....66.94....80.84....65.32....100.... Cloudy.... ....41° 50′ 00′′ ....46.243....310 30' 00" 36.69....61.33. Fort Mackinac........ 7....40.37. 20.08. 4....47.36....28.69....46.32....66.44....47.98.... Detroit. Chicago, Ill...... The climate of Michigan is hotter in summer, and averages milder in winter, than would be expected from its position. Detroit being in lat. 42° 19′ 18′′, and longitude 82° 58'; but its almost insular position, and the large bodies of water which surround it, produce a marked effect. There is much less snow, and the winters are shorter and more irregu lar than in the same latitude in Western New-York. The western coast appears to have a colder climate and more snow than the eastern, probably owing to the unwooded prairies of Wisconsin, and the prevailing winter winds being west and northwest. Froin an early period, a periodical rise and fall of water in the lakes has been observed. Formerly the notion prevailed that this was owing to a tide which ebbed and flowed each seven years; but more modern observations attribute it to "a successive series of cold and moist years, and a series of warm and dry ones, mutually following each other"; and considering that a surface of 248,755 square miles of land, besides that of the lakes, drains into the St. Lawrence, this is probably the true explanation. But correct meteorological observations have not yet been made for a sufficient length of time to decide the question. Taken altogether, Michigan enjoys an unusually dry and agreeable climate. On the Detroit River, winter rarely sets in before the end of December, and is passed by the beginning to the end of March. Instances have occurred during the last fifteen years, when the ground could be plowed, and steamboats have passed from Detroit to Buffalo, every month in the year. The spring is the most unpleasant and changeable season. The falls are usually very beautiful, dry and cloudless. It is, however, remarked by old residents, that a decided change in the length and severity of the springs has taken place during the last half dozen years. The same belief (whether just or unjust) is entertained in New-York and Pennsylvania. As regards health, Michigan will compare favorably with any other western state. Till very lately, the only serious diseases known were ague, generally of a mild character, and lung fever (bilious inflammation of lungs) in winter. |