Thus, in loss and disgrace, ended the effort to wrest Fort Mackinaw, and the island upon which it stands, from the English. When the fleet first appeared off Lighthouse Point, there was but a single company of troops in the fort, and but few, if any, Indian auxiliaries upon the island; and, had Colonel Croghan at once demanded a surrender, instead of at first going to St. Joseph's, the post would doubtless have passed back into the hands of the Americans without bloodshed, and with as little parley as, two years before, it had passed into the hands of the English. Or, had a prompt and willing surrender been refused, a vigorous attack must have quickly reduced it, as the American force was greatly superior to the English. But the delay was pregnant with disaster and disgrace.

Having failed in the reduction of Fort Mackinaw, which Sinclair denominated a perfect Gibraltar, measures were now taken to starve it into submission, by cutting off its supplies. The troops, with the exception of three companies, were dispatched in two vessels, to join General Brown on the Niagara, and the remainder of the squadron, a pilot having been now sccured, directed its course to the east side of the lake, to break up any establishments which the enemy might have in that quarter. While the Americans were masters of Lake Eric, there were only two practicable lines of communication between the remote garrison of Fort Mackinaw and the lower country. The first of these was with Montreal by way of the Ottawa, Lake Nippising and French river; and the second with York, by means of Lake Simcoe and the Nautauwasaga river. Having learned that the first of these communications was impracticable at that season of the year, on account of the marshy state of the portages, they proceeded to the mouth of the Nautauwasaga, in hopes of finding the enemy's schooner Nancy, which was thought to be in that quarter.

On the thirteenth of August, the fleet anchored off the mouth of that river, and the troops were quickly disembarked, for the purpose of fixing a camp on the peninsula formed by the river and the lake. On reconnoitering the position, the schooner was discovered in the river, a few hundred yards above, under cover

of a block-house, erected on a commanding situation, on the opposite shore. On the following morning, a fire was opened by the shipping upon the block-house, but with little effect, owing to a thin wood, which intervened and obscured the view. But, about twelve o'clock, two howitzers were landed; and, being placed within a few hundred yards of the block-house, commenced throwing shells. In a few minutes, one of these shells burst in the block-house, and, shortly after, blew up the magazine, allowing the enemy scarcely time to escape. The explosion of the magazine set fire to a train, which had been laid for the destruction of the vessel, and in a few minutes she was enveloped in flames; and her valuable cargo, consisting of several hundred barrels of provisions, intended as a six months supply for the garrison at Mackinaw, was entirely consumed.

Colonel Croghan did not think it advisable to fortify and garrison Nautauwasaga, because the communication with York was so short and convenient, that any force left there might be easily cut off during the winter; hence, Sinclair left the Tigress and Scorpion to blockade it closely, until the season should become too boisterous for boat transportation, and the remainder of the squadron returned to Detroit. But this blockade, which, had it been properly enforced, must speedily have made a bloodless conquest of Mackinaw, was soon brought to an end by the capture of both these schooners. After the destruction of the Nancy, her captain, with several of his men, at once repaired to Fort Mackinaw, to communicate the news of the loss to Colonel McDonall, and the little garrison under his command. Under the circumstances, it was unwelcome news, indeed. Provisions were already getting low; a single loaf of bread was worth one dollar and a half; the men were subsisting on half rations, and had already been reduced to the necessity of killing several horses, to ward off starvation. And, worse than all, a long and dreary winter was near at hand, portending nothing but death from starvation.

Something must be done; and, accordingly, an expedition was at once fitted out by Colonel McDonall, consisting of a force of a hundred and fifty sailors and soldiers, and two hundred and fifty Indians, in open boats, to break the blockade, if possible. The

Tigress, which for several days had been separated from the Scorpion, was surprised and boarded during the night of September third, it being very dark; and, after a desperate hand-to-hand struggle, in which some were killed and several wounded, was captured. During the contest, an attempt was made by the Americans to destroy the signal-book, but, unfortunately, without success; and, by the aid of this book, the Tigress, now manned by English officers and men, surprised and captured the Scorpion, on the morning of the sixth, at the dawn of day. This was a finishing stroke to the ill-fated enterprise, and Mackinaw was left secure in the hands of the English, until peace was declared, which took place in the following winter; and, in the spring of 1815, the British troops evacuated the post, and a company of American soldiers, under Colonel Chambers, took possession of it.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE ORDINANCE OF 1787-ERECTION OF THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN -ITS BOUNDARY - JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION—THE WOODWARD CODE OF LAWS-GOVERNOR HULL-HIS TRIAL BY COURT-MARTIAL

WE WILL now turn from scenes of warfare, and notice more particularly the political history of Michigan. Under the French and British dominion, the points occupied, on the eastern boundary of what now constitutes the State of Michigan, were considered a part of New France, or Canada. Detroit was known to the French as Fort Pontchartrain. The military commandant, under both governments, exercised a civil jurisdiction over the settlements surrounding their posts. When possession was yielded to the United States, in the year 1796, the British garrisons at Detroit and Michilimackinac were replaced by detachments, by General Wayne, and Michigan became a part of the Northwestern Territory. That Territory was then in the first stage of government, prescribed by the ordinance of 1787. Arthur St. Clair was its Governor; and he was, therefore, the first American chief magistrate under whom Michigan was placed. In the year 1798, the Northwestern Territory assumed what was called the second grade of Territorial government. The county of Wayne, then coëxtensive with the Territory of Michigan, as afterwards established, sent one representative to the General Assembly of the Northwestern Territory, held at Chillicothe, whose election gave the first occasion for the exercise of the right of suffrage in this county.

In the year 1800, Indiana was established as a separate Territory, embracing all the country lying west of the present State of Ohio, and of an extension of the western line of that State due north to the Territorial limits of the United States. In the year

1802, the peninsula was annexed to the Territory of Indiana, by the same act of Congress which authorized the formation into a State of that part of the Northwestern Territory which now constitutes Ohio.

AARON B. TURNER was born in 1822, at Plattsburgh, N. Y., whence his father, Isaac Turner, moved his family to Grand Rapids in the spring of 1836. He commenced type-setting in the office of the Grand River Times, the first paper published at Grand Rapids, in the winter of 1838. December 25, 1844, he commenced the publication of the Grand Rapids Eagle (at first called the Grand River Eagle), and has continued it ever since, a period of twenty-nine consecutive years. He started the Daily Eagle May 26th, 1856. Since 1865 he has had as a business partner Eli F. Harrington, a brother-in-law. As founder of the Eagle, continuous publisher and owner, still retaining control as principal proprietor, Mr.