dollars of presents from the British agents at Malden. It was no unfrequent occurrence for them, as they passed along, to commit depredations upon the property of the whites. This annual tribute also had a tendency to create and strengthen an attachment and sympathy between the Indians and the British government. It became obvious, then, that some measures were necessary to put a stop to this custom, and to remove the Indians as far as possible from British influence, so annoying to the settlers even in time of peace, and in time of war so dangerous.

In 1823 congress passed an act changing the form of territorial government. This act abrogated the legislative power of the governor and judges, and established a legislative council, to consist of nine members. These members were to be ap pointed by the president of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, out of eighteen candidates elected by the people of the territory. This council and the governor of the territory were invested with the same powers which had been before granted by the ordinance of 1787 to the governor, legislative council and house of representatives of the northwestern territory. By this law the term of a judicial office was limited to four years, and eligibility to office required the same qualifications as the right of suffrage. This act met the cordial approbation of the people of the territory. They were now invested with a more compact and energetic government. An interest was awakened in the minds of the people in the affairs of their government, and they began to experience that sensation of citizenship which underlies the growth and prosperity of all civilized communities. The first legislative council convened under this act, met for the first time at the council house at Detroit, on the seventh day of June, 1824. Gov. Cass then delivered his message, briefly reviewing the progress of the territory since his administration commenced, and marking out what he considered the proper line of policy in its existing condition. Amongst other matters to which the governor called the attention of the council was that of schools and education-a subject not so much discussed or generally appreciated as since. In the course of this year, Gov. Cass called the attention of the general government to the mineral resources of the Lake Superior country, and

asked that steps might be taken to procure from the Indians the privilege of exploring and mining in that country. In compli ance with this recommendation, the senate passed a bill conferring authority on the president to appoint a commissioner to treat with the Indians for this purpose. The house, however, refused to concur; but at the next session of congress the bill passed both houses. This was the first legislation which led to the commencement of mining operations on Lake Superior.

In November, 1926, the council again convened. During that session they were called upon to consider a question which, several years after, threatened to embroil the territory in an armed conflict with the state of Ohio. This was in reference to the dividing line between Michigan and the contiguous states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. A discussion of this question is, however, more properly reserved for a future chapter.

"In the meantime, a change had been made in the manner of selecting the minor officers of the territory. All the county offi cers, save those of a judicial character, were made elective by the people, and all executive appointments were required to be approved by the legislative council. An act was also passed empowering the governor and council to divide the territory into townships, to incorporate the same, and to define their rights and privileges. The country was now rapidly increasing in wealth and population. A new impetus had been given to the growth of the whole northwest, by the opening, in 1825, of the Erie canal from Hudson river to Buffalo. The effect of the completion of this magnificent enterprise was to cheapen transportation, and give to the west the foreign merchandise of which it stood in need, at a greatly reduced price. At the same time it had the effect of enhancing the price of the agricultural products of the west in a still greater proportion. Consequently lands increased in value, and new facilities and new motives were offered for settlement. The Walk-in-the-Water was now found too slow and of insufficient capacity to accommodate the travelers and their goods over the rough waters of the lakes. To accommodate this increase, the Henry Clay and other steam vessels were built. To meet the increasing demand for land, new surveys were made, and large tracts of land thrown upon the market. Capital began to flow in

and seek investment in the fertile acres which were thrown open for settlement. Improvements, local and general, were made; the small settlements began to swell into villages; public edifices and private mansions were projected and built; the echo of the woods was supplanted by the busy hum of commerce; and rich fields of golden grain, and other products of agricultural industry, were to be seen on every hand, and were harvested and shipped to the seaboard. Michigan now began to be considered the asylum and the retreat for all who would better their fortunes by industry. In the meantime, in order to meet the claims of the increasing population of the territory, new privileges of a political character had been granted them. The legislative council was increased to thirteen members, to be chosen by the president, from twenty-six selected as candidates by the people. This change was made in 1825. In 1827 an act was passed authorizing the electors to choose their representatives directly, without the further sanction of either the president or congress. The power of enacting laws was given to the council, subject, however, to the approval of congress, and the veto of the governor of the territory. Upon this footing the government of the territory remained until the organization of the state government."*

In 1831, Gov. Lewis Cass was appointed secretary of war in the cabinet of Prest. Jackson, and he thereupon retired from the office of governor of Michigan, having served in that capacity for the period of eighteen years. He had been appointed six times, running through the presidency of Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams-without a single representation against him from the people in all that time, or a single vote against him in the senate. He had, in the meantime, faithfully discharged his duties as Indian commissioner, and had concluded nineteen treaties with the Indians, and acquired large cessions in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. The people of the territory fully appreciated his worth at the time, as was more than once manifested in after years. He was succeeded by Gen. Geo. B. Porter in

July, 1831.

On the sixth of July 1834, the office of governor became vacant, by the death of Gov. Porter. By the provision of law *History of Michigan.

for the government of the territory in case of the death, removal, resignation, or necessary absence of the governor, the secretary of the territory was required to execute the powers and perform all the duties of the governor during the vacancy. The functions of the office, consequently, devolved upon the secretary, Stevens T. Mason.

Cotemperaneous with the question of forming a state government, that of the southeastern boundry of the state became important, and caused much bitter feeling between Michigan and Ohio. After the boundary contest which was conducted with no great credit to the officials of Michigan, the territorial government was succeeded by a state government and Michigan was ad mitted into the union a soverign state.

CHAPTER XXI.

TERRITORIAL HISTORIES ILLINOIS.

Illinois under the French-English Virginia - Territorial Government Formed in 1809 - The Chicago Massacre - Horrible Butchery of the Garrison-Indian Treachery - Formation of the State Government.

THE GREAT event in the northwest in 1809 was the organization of the territory of Illinois. The people of this section had, at several periods, been left without a government. As we have already observed, it was, originally a portion of ancient Louisiana under the French monarchy. By the treaty of France with Great Britian, in 1763, all Canada, including the Illinois country, was ceded to the English. However, British authority and laws did not reach Illinois until 1765, when Capt. Sterling in the name and by the authority of the British Crown, established the provisional government at Fort Chartres. In 1766 the passage of the celebrated "Quebec bill "as it was called, placed Illinois and the Northwest territory under the local administration of Canada. But the memorable conquest of the country by Clark in 1778, brought it under the jurisdiction of Virginia, and in the month of

October of that year the legislature of that state organized the county of Illinois. The cession of the country to the Continental congress was made in 1784, and the ordinance which provided for the erection of the territory northwest of the Ohio was adopted in 1787, and the governor and judges who exercised, in one body, legislative and judicial authority, did not go into operation until July, 1788. Still the Illinois country remained without any organized government till March, 1790, when Gov. St. Clair or ganized the county that bears his name. Hence, for more than six years at one period, and for a shorter time at other periods, there was no executive, legislative, and judicial authority in the country. The people were a "law unto themselves," and good feelings, harmony, and fidelity to engagements predominated. From 1800 they had been a part of the territory of Indiana. In all the territories at that period, there were two grades of territorial government. The first was that of governor and judges. These constituted the law making power. Such was the organization of Illinois in 1809. The next grade was a territorial legislature; the people electing the house of representatives, and the president and senate appointing the council. By an act of congress, of February 3, 1809, all that part of Indiana territory which lies west of the Wabash river, and a direct line drawn from that river and Post Vincennes, due north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, was constituted into a separate territory, by the name of Illinois; and the first grade of territorial government was established. For eight years Illinois had formed a part of Indiana, and the principal statutes of that territory were reenacted by the governor and judges, and became the basis of statute law in Illinois.

The principal event, or we may say, the most shocking event that occurred during the territorial existence of Chicago, was the massacre at Fort Dearborn (Chicago) in 1812. A small trading post had been established at Chicago in the period of French explorations, but no village formed; and it will be remembered that at the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, the Pottawatomies, Miamis and other nations agreed to relinquish their right to a piece of land, six miles square, at the mouth of the Chicago river, “where a fort formerly stood." The United States erected a small fort