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note, under date of the sixth of that month, to the commanding officer of the Tecumseh, saying:

"It has been officially represented to me that, in several instances, within a few days, vessels, bound from ports of the United States, upon Lake Erie, to this place, have been boarded by parties of men from an armed vessel of His Britannic Majesty, lying off Amherstburgh.

"These parties have entered the vessels while passing through the usual channel of communication between lakes Erie and II uron; in one instance, with the avowed object of taking therefrom two men, under the pretense of their being British deserters, and, in all instances, with objects, so far as they could be ascertained from the questions and conduct of the boarding officer, which furnish no justification for a British officer in forcibly entering a vessel of the United States.

"The manner in which this service has been performed, has had no tendency to diminish the effect which the character of such transactions is calculated to produce. The conduct of the boarding officer has been arrogant and imperious.

"In an aggression like this, the government of the United States can alone determine what course the honor and interest of the nation requires should be taken. But, until their decision shall be made known upon the subject, it becomes my duty to remonstrate against a practice for which the laws of nations afford no pretense; which is inconsistent with the relations existing between our respective governments; and the continuance of which must be attended with serious and important consequences." This note to the British commander had the desired effect, and no further complaints were made to the governor of any interruption to American commerce or American vessels, while peacefully pursuing their legitimate business in those waters. It was satisfactory to the British officials that if vessels, bearing the flag of the United States, should be stopped and forcibly entered, with the avowed purpose of taking from them persons on board, and within sight of the spot consecrated by the victory of Perry, the whole nation would fly to arms, and that, notwithstanding the right of visitation and search was not mentioned or qualified by the treaty of Ghent, the United States would not, in any event, secede from their high and impregnable position upon this subject.

CHAPTER VIII.

The North-west Territory-Civil Government of Michigan-Land Titles-Condition of Michigan at Close of the War-Currency-Extent of the Territory-General Cass feels the Responsibility of his Position-Imputed Frauds on the Indians-How he Performed his Duties-Appointed to Treat with Ohio Tribes of Indians-Treaty of Fort Meigs-Aversion of the Chiefs to Remove-Wisdom of Com missioners-Large Cession-Military Road-The Detroit Gazette-The People Against a Change of Government-Public Surveys-Emigration into the Territory-The Six Nations-General Cass' Views of the Duties of an Indian Commissioner-Negotiates a Treaty at St. Mary's Council at Saginaw His Popularity with the Indians-Election of Delegate to Congress-Its Benefits.

The Territory of Michigan, from 1796, when possession was obtained from the British government, up to 1805, was a part of the organization known as "the territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio river," and was subject to the provisions of the ordinance of 1787. It occupied the first grade of territorial government, as prescribed by that ordinance-a governor, three judges, and secretary, constituting the civil power. To the governor and judges, or a majority, was confided the trust of selecting and adopting such laws of the original thirteen States, civil and criminal, as they might deem necessary and proper, and suitable for the district. Congress alone had the power to revise. In 1798, the North-western Territory entered upon the second grade of territorial government. This grade added a legislature to the civil authority, and, to entitle a district to representation in this body, it was provided that the district must have a population of five thousand free male inhabitants of full age, and for every five hundred of such inhabitants, one representative was allowed. The general assembly, in that year, convened at Chillicothe, and Michigan appeared by one representative. In 1805, Indiana was organized as a separate government, and Illinois and Michigan comprised the residue of the North-west Territory. In July of this year, Michigan was organized as a separate territorial government, by General Hull, who was appointed governor. At this period, the quantity of land within the Territory, at the disposal of the government, was small, and, for the most part, embraced east of a line running north from the river Raisin to Lake St. Clair, at a remove of six miles from the Detroit river and the

shore of Lake Erie. Upon examination, it was evident that the claimants held their lands by a precarious tenure; in many instances, deriving title from subordinate French and English officers. The settlers, fortunately for themselves, however, had made more or less improvements, and these were subsequently confirmed by legal grant from the United States, under the advice of the territorial government.

The only further cession of title to the lands, prior to the accession of General Cass to the governorship, was obtained from the Indians, under a treaty held by General Hull, at Brownstown, in 1807. The southern boundary of this cession was the Maumee bay and river, and embracing all the lands lying east of a line running north, from the mouth of the Au Glaire, a tributary of the Miami, until it should intersect the parallel of the outlet of Lake Huron; thence extending, in a north-easterly direction, to White Rock, on Lake Huron, this northerly line being afterwards adopted as the principal meridian line for the public surveys of the Territory.

Thus stood the Territory at the close of the war, commenced with Great Britain in June, 1812, and concluded in the winter of 1815. During this war, Michigan had suffered greatly. Scarcely a family, when it resumed its domestic establishment, found more than the remnants of former wealth and comforts. Entire families had been broken up and dispersed by this furious god; parents had been torn from children, and children from each other; some had expired on the field of battle, and others had been slain with ruthless barbarity by the Indians. Laws were powerless, and morals had suffered in the general wreck. Agriculture and commerce had languished. Provisions, and all the necessaries of life, were scarce, and high prices ruled in all transactions. Money, it was difficult to get; and the bank paper of Ohio constituted the general currency among the people. This, in New York city, was twenty and twenty-five per cent. below par, and precluded commercial transactions, except at a ruinous figure to the speculator and merchant.

In such a gloomy and unpromising condition did General Cass find Michigan, when he assumed the reins of its government. He saw, at a glance, that a civil government was to be established, and laws devised, enacted, and to be carried into effect, ere he could flatter himself that he possessed more than a mere selvedge

of government. Constituting a part of the legislative power, it rendered it a delicate task to aid in the enactment of laws which were to be enforced by the same will. How well he performed, with decision and enlightened discrimination, these herculean labors, the condition of Michigan, when he laid down the scepter, abundantly demonstrates.

The war had ruptured or weakened every tie which had previously connected the Indian tribes with the United States. The general direction of our intercourse with the Indians was one of the most important duties then devolving upon the Governor of Michigan. He was, by law, Superintendent of Indian Affairs within the Territory; and, in addition, he had, by the direction of the government, the same authority over all the Indian tribes east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio, an extensive region, and inhabited by many bands of fierce and warlike Indians. This large and dangerous population was exposed to hostile impulses, as well by their contact with our frontier settlers as by the excited feelings which had been called into action by the events of the war; and to prevent collisions, and to protect and preserve the Indians in their relations of peace, required great firmness and judgment. General Cass was called, by these duties of intercourse, repeatedly to visit the Indians through this vast country, and as far north and west as the heads of the Mississippi. Councils were, from time to time, held with the various tribes, treaties to be formed, annuities to be paid, and dangers and difficulties to be averted. In repairing to the council fires of the respective tribes, (for each has its own, where business is done,) the mode of traveling was on horseback or in birch canoes,—in the former mode, where the Indians were in the interior, removed from navigable water-courses; and in the latter, where they could be reached by water conveyances. By land, the journey was slow and laborious. A day's travel did not average over thirty miles; and at night, the horses were turned out to pick such herbage as they could find, being first spanceled, that is, having their two fore legs tied together by a band, to prevent escape, and the party lay down, with a blanket around them and their heads upon their saddles for pillows. The precarious supplies furnished by hunting, together with such provisions as could be packed, were their resources for food. No roads, no bridges, no houses, this state of things portrays the obstacles to be encountered.

In canoes, there was much more comfort. An Indian canoe, made of birch bark fastened to thin cedar ribs, is a very fragile boat; but it rides the waves well and safely, and is easily propelled. When the traveling party approached a rapid, the canoe and its contents were taken from the water, and carried across the portage upon the shoulders of the crew, and replaced in the water above the obstruction, and then the voyage was renewed. In a country intersected by water courses, this is a very independent mode of traveling for the Indians. General Cass once met a squaw, who had all her worldly possessions, everything necessary for her existence, upon her back. Her load consisted of a little birch canoe, her kettle, her mat house, her blanket, and one or two other articles; and she seemed to travel along in good spirits, across the portage, self-possessed and self-defended. The Indians and the Canadian voyageurs-the latter a peculiar class which has nearly disappeared, strong, muscular and indefatigable-managed these slender machines with great skill and judgment, laboring with much exertion, and resting every pipe, at once the measure of distance and the great solace of labor. Many thousands of miles has General Cass traveled in these little barks, attended by the Indians, who presented an animated scene upon the waves, in their light cockle shells, always in good spirits, and making the shores re-echo to their

songs.

General Cass found the number of Indians within his jurisdiction, when he assumed the Superintendency of Indian Affairs, to be all of forty thousand, and that they could furnish, on most occasions, at least nine thousand warriors. They claimed to be the rightful owners of eleven millions of acres of land in Michigan alone, and, tracing their title to the Great Spirit in the clouds above and around them, they were disposed to adhere to it with the most superstitious bigotry. He fully appreciated the magnitude of this additional responsibility; he was also fully aware of the multiplicity of personal interests, with which he must necessarily come in contact in the discharge of his official functions in this quarter; but, despite this, he determined to discharge his duty to his country, and to all interested, with efficiency and undeviating fidelity. These duties commenced, too, at a time when, to the natural difficulties of their performance, was added imminent personal danger to the officer. Many

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