Bay County, Michigan - The whole text, 1883 (part 3 of 20)

"This mound is full of the remains of ancient pottery and small stones that have been through the action of fire. A friend of mine found an awl made of copper, which was quite soft with the exception of about an inch from the point, which was so hard that a file would scarcely make an impression on it. This seems to me to show that the mound builders had the art of hardening copper. We also find that they had the art of working in metals, as we will show. This comprises the mounds on the east side of the Saginaw

"We will now pass over to the west side, near the mill of H. J. and C. J. Smith. There was here, nearly fifty years ago, a mound just above the mill, about 100 feet across, in a circular form and about three feet high. Originally it must have been much higher. I have never examined this mound, but have understood from old settlers that there were a great many stone implements found in it. The plow has nearly leveled it, so that it is scarcely noticed any more.

Detroit and Bay City Eailroad bridge, for reference I will call the Birney Mound, as it was located on the lands of that great philanthropist, the late Hon. James G. Birney. This mound was not so large in circumference, but much higher than the one just noticed. In this were also found human bones, in a much better state of preservation than any of the rest. I procured from this mound a skull with a hole in it jusfc above the temple bone, produced by a sharp instrument, which undoubtedly caused death. This skull I presented to J. Morgan Jennison, of Philadelphia. It was of an entirely different formation from the Indian skull of the present day, as it did not have their high cheek bones nor their receding forehead, but a very intellectually developed head, showing that it was of a different race of people from the Indian. Some years since some boys were digging in the side of the mound, as they had often done before, to get angle worms for fishing, when they came across a small silver canoe, about five inches long. A gentleman who was fishing with them, offered them fifty cents for it, which they accepted. After cleaning it up, he found it to be of exquisite workmanship, with the projecting ends tipped with gold. "A rough copper kettle of peculiar shape and make, having been wrought into shape by hammering, without any seam, was also taken from one of these mounds, and is now in the State Capitol amongst Mr. Jennison's collections of antiquity.

" The next mound was about half a mile up the river, and formerly stood in the center of Linn Street, West Bay City, but has been graded down many years since. I was not there at the time, but was informed by others that it contained human bones and stone imijlements. Charles E. Jennison, a pioneer of Bay City, informs me that he dug up two skeletons, many years ago, in the side of this mound. He found, with the skeletons, two copper kettles, which he has still in his possession. I am inclined to think these were not the remains of the original mound builders, but a race of a subsequent period.

"We now proceed a half mile more up the river, to the rise of ground in the rear of Frank Fitzhugh's grist mill. This elevation, fifty years ago, when I first saw it, was the most picturesque spot on the Saginaw Eiver. Here was also a beautiful spring of cold water, and it was a favorite camping ground of the Indians. It was also, according to Indian tradition, the original site of the Sauk village, and where the great battle was fought when the Chippewas exterminated that nation. This I will call the Fitzhugh Mound, as it is on the lands of Frank Fitzhugh.

"This elevation, comprising two or three acres, was always thought to be natural. But I am satisfied from recent excavations, and a low place to the southwest, that the earth had been taken from this point to raise the mound higher than the surrounding land, and that it is, therefore, mostly artificial. Then again the land adjoining on the north is a yellow sand, while on tlie south the land fell off abruptly, and from where the earth was taken is composed of the same kind of soil as the mound - black sand and loam. I am now speaking of this mound as it appeared fifty years ago. Since then, the railroad company have excavated a part of it for ballasting up their road, and many other excavations and alterations have taken place, so that it has not the same appearance it had when I first saw it. Some years since, Mr. Fitzhugh, or the village authorities of Wenona, now West Bay City, excavated a street through this mound, which brought to hght many rehcs, and proved, beyond a doubt, that this eminence was a mound built in remote ages. A great many skeletons were exhumed, together with a great many ornaments of silver, broken pottery, stone implements, etc., and, hke the McCormick Mound on the opposite side of the river, was full of broken stone which had been through the action of fire."

"There are also four fortifications on the Rifle River, in Township Twenty-two north. They comprise from three to six acres each, containing several mounds of large size. They are also situated on the bluffs. The walls can yet be traced, and are from three to four feet high and from eight to ten feet wide, with large trees growing upon them. A friend of mine opened one of these mounds and took from it a skeleton of a larger size than an ordinary person. He says he also saw several large mounds on the Au Sable River.

"And to prove that the last three are artificial and not natural, is the fact that in the rear of all these are low places showing where the earth had been taken from to build the mounds, which had taken the work of years.

"Again, the soil on the mounds differs from the soil around them, with the exception of the low places referred to, from where the earth was taken; and finally, the most convincing proof of all is that you can dig down until you come to the original surface, and will find various kinds of stone implements, broken pottery, and great quantities of stone broken by the action of fire. And in no part of the valley will you find those relics except in those mounds.

"The main objection to my theory is, how could such large elevations and of such extent as the Fitzhugh, Fraser and McCormick Mounds and the more extensive works found in Butler County, 0., be built by so primitive a people. I account for so much small broken stone being in these mounds by the manner in which they cooked their food. As their pottery was not made to stand fire, the stones were heated and then put into the vessels to cook their food, which occasioned their breaking to pieces when they came in contact with the water.

"Michael Daley, an old Indian trader of the Saginaw Valley, in speaking of the Indian mounds on the rivers flowing into the Saginaw Bay, says: - *0n the Rifle River, some distance from the mouth, there is a regular ancient fort with mounds inside. This fort is located on the bluff, where it had a commanding view of the surrounding country and was a very strong location. The outer walls and mounds were overgrown with large pine trees three to four feet through.' He also at another time crossed from the head waters of the Rifle to the headwaters of the Au Sable with a party of Indians purchasing fur. On their journey they camped near a beautiful little lake where they found a very large mound on its bank. One of the party wanted to open it, but the rest of the Indians were very superstitious and did not want it done. He however commenced the work ; he had not dug long before he came to a large skeleton of immense size. Mr. Daley says it was seven feet long, and the skull was nearly twice as large as an ordinary person's.

"On seeing it the Indians became more dissatisfied at what had been done and wanted it reburied, which was done. The next day they came to two beautiful little lakes close together and divided by a high piece of ground, on the top of which was a large mound, the position of which was almost impregnable,but they did not stop long to examine it. Mr. Daley also says while he was fishing on Duck Island, in Lake Huron, many years ago, he found large quantities of broken pottery, consisting of bowls, kettles, etc., the same as are found in the mounds where they have been opened or graded down at the present time."

By Judge Ax.Bekt Miller

which, as near as the writer can recollect, stood on or near the ground that Thomas H. McGraw has recently improved for a race course on his prairie farm. It was an ash of vigorous growth, about eighteen inches or two feet in diameter, and during the season of foliage presented a bright green appearance. The name is obvious from its having stood in the open prairie completely isolated from all other timber. In early days all travel was on the river, and by that route the lone tree was estimated to be two miles from Portsmouth and four from Bay City. Travelers passing at any season of the year almost invariably saw a white owl perched upon the top of the tree. Some time about the year 1840, a very interesting poem was published in the Philadelphia Evening Post, and copied into a great many papers in different parts of the United States. The conception of the poem was an Indian legend, stating that the owl was the Good Spirit that watched over and guided the destinies of their tribe or race in the Saginaw Valley; that as long as the tree stood, and the Spirit continued his vigils, their tribe would remain and prosper, but when the Spirit in the shape of the owl should depart, their tribe would be scattered and eventually pass away. It was a wonder to many who knew the locality, who the poet could be who had conceived an Indian legend, and so beautifully woven it into a poem. Some ten years ago the late Hon. Artemas Thayer, of Flint, related to the writer the circumstances of his wedding tour, from Flint to Lower Saginaw, in a sleigh, accompanied by Miss Mather, of Flint, a young lady friend of the bride. They saw the white owl perched upon the lone tree, and on their return to Flint Miss Mather wrote the poem that attracted so much attention. Miss Mather subsequently went to New York, and at the residence of Horace Greeley suddenly expired, while packing her trunk preparatory to a voyage to Europe. There is something of a coincidence in the relations of the poet and the subsequent history of the Indians. During the Summer of 1838 the waters covered all the low lands of the Saginaw Valley,kining vast amounts of timber skirting the river and low prairies, and during that season the lone tree received its death blow, and soon was left leafless ; but the owl still continued his vigils, perched upon the dead branches. But when the roots decayed and the tree was prostrated, the owl was seen no more. In 1837 the Indians sold their reservations to the United States Government, and about the same time their numbers were diminished one-half by the scourge of small-pox. The remnant Imgered a few years about their old hunting grounds but were compelled to retire before the march of civilization ; and by the I time the lone tree was prostrated and the owl departed, but few of I the aborigines were seen about their old haunts, where but a few I years before they were the owners and only occupants of the land." I The owl was shot and killed about 1842 by James J. McCormick while out with a party on a hunting expedition up the river.

More minutely, the legend is as follows: - Many, many long years ago, before the white man's foot had left its impress upon this valley, Ke-wah-ke-won ruled his people with love and kindness. He was a patriarch among them, and beloved for the gentleness of his manners, and the mildness of his government. He had been a great warrior in his day; but his youth had departed, and the languid puise and feeble footstep told, alas, too plainly, that he would soon be treading the hunting grounds of the Great Spirit. The good old man felt that he was indeed passing away - dying - and he was desirous of seeing once more his tribes in council, to bestow upon them his last blessing, and impart to them his dying admonition and advice. The old chief lay upon his death bed, and around him were gathered, in mournful silence, his beloved people, eager to catch the first and last words that would drop from the hps of their dying chieftain. It was a mournful and melancholy picture, that death-bed scene in the wilderness. At

" My children," said he, " the Great Spirit has called me, and I must obey the summons. Already is the tomahawk raised to sever the last cord that binds me to my children ; already my guide stands at the door to convey me to the hunting grounds of my fathers in the Spirit Land. You weep, my children, but dry your tears, for though I leave you now, yefc will my spirit bird ever watch over you. I will whisper to you in the evening breeze, and when the morning comes you will know that I have been with you through the night. But the Good Spirit beckons me, and I must hasten. Let my body be laid in a quiet spot, with my tomahawk and pipe by my side. You need not fear that the wolf will disturb my rest, for the Great Spirit, I feel, will place a watch over me. Meet me in the Spirit Land, my children - farewell ! " And the old chief slept the sleep that knows no waking till the end of time.

They buried him in a lone spot in the prairie, near the beautiful river, with his face toward the rising sun. His remains were never disturbed by bird or beast ; for it would indeed seem that so the Great Spirit had ordered it. Time passed on, and a tree arose from his grave, and spread its branches over it, as if to protect it, and a beautiful white owl took possession of it. The Indians tell us that the * lone tree ' marked the last resting place of Ke-wah-kewon, and that the white owl was the spirit bird sent to watch over it.

The territory comprising Bay County was originally a part of Saginaw, Midland and the whole of Arenac Counties. Arenac being attached to Midland for judicial purposes, including all the territory in Towns Thirteen north, Eange Six east, and all the north half of the Town Thirteen north, Range Five east that lies east of the Saginaw River, and all of Fourteen north. Range Three, Four, Five and Six east, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen and Eighteen north. Range Three, Four and Five east, and all of Town Nineteen and Twenty north. Range Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight east, and also the Charity Islands in Saginaw Bay.

This county lies around the shores of Saginaw Bay, and including the Saginaw, Kawkawlin, Pinconning, Pine, Rifle, AuGres, and Quanicassee Rivers emptying into the Saginaw Bay.

This territory was organized into Bay County in 1857. Then but two townships were in fuU organization in the county. Hampton and Williams had been organized in 1843 and 1855, as already stated.

The first election of county officers was held on the first Monday in June, 1857, under the act to organize the county, and elected Wm. Simon, sheriff; Elijah Catlin, clerk; James Watson, treasurer; Thomas M. Bligh, register of deeds; S. S. Campbell, judge of probate; C. H. Freeman, prosecuting attorney; Stephen P. Wright, Circuit Court commissioner; Benjamin F. Partridge, surveyor; Wm. C. Spicer, coroner. And these officers were duly quahfied and were ready for business, but Saginaw County pro tested against any such unwarranted proceedings.

The organization having been disputed by Saginaw and Midland Counties, who assumed all judicial power over the entire county, paralyzed the operation of the courts and the collection of taxes till the Supreme Court decided a case arising in Bay County, the jurisdiction of which the Saginaw Circuit claimed, which decision was that Bay County was duly organized.

The Struggle For Existence

The history of the memorable struggle for an existence, which attended the efforts to organize Bay County, has been admirably written by Gen. B. F. Partridge, of Bay City, and was published in 1876, by direction of the Board of Supervisors. It constitutes an important part of a history of Bay County, and we quote from Gen. Partridge's paper as follows:

*' Of the first efforts I only know in part; from others I glean the rest. The first efforts for its organization were made in 1855, when the Hon. J. S. Barclay, w^io was elected a member of the Legislature from Saginaw County, in November, 1854, and w^ho resided in Lower Saginaw, then a part of Saginaw County, now Bay City, presented a favorable opportunity for the scheme and with hope of success. The Hon. Judge Albert Miller and the irrepressible Daniel Burns (Mr. Burns was then in the prime of life, with a bright future before him, more so than the common lot of man), were sent to the ' Third House ' for that purpose ; and two more fitting men at that time, and at that juncture, could not have been selected for such a mission ; but such was the opposition to the bill at that early and first effort that, although the bill came near passing, yet it was defeated by a small majority.

*' The opposition to the bill in the ' Third House ' was strong, numerous, and influential. The indifferent yielded to their influence and importunities.

" At this time Lower Saginaw was hardly known, save to our ' up town ' neighbors (those above Carrollton bar), and was their bugbear and coming rival, and East Town and Saginaw ^\ ere in all their glory and prosperity; and the then /Little Giant,' Lower Saginaw, was strugghng for an existence against odds that seemed superhuman to overcome, but with will and dare to do it, finally succeeded.

" Also at that time the indifferent allowed the claims of its opponents that the matter was too premature, - ' wait and see,' and if necessary the organization, if hereafter it should be deemed proper, could be allowed. Just as if a rlghi was to be alloioed, and not at once conceded ! The argument generally submitted to bv the indifferent and urged by our opponents, - those whose interests opposed our organization, or thought their interests were so opposed, - claimed they could defeat all subsequent biUs of the kind. The effort, although it failed, was not without its effects. It brought the matter somewhat before the public, and the indifferent ones began to inquire more particularly in regard to the same, and many of them admitted the justice of the claims for our organization.^

"Again, in 1857, the Hon. James Birney, Col. Henry Raymond, B. F. Partridge, and some others, were selected as a committee to the ' Third House,' to press the matter of our organization, and if possible to procure the passage of an act for the same. The Hon. T. Jerome, of Saginaw City, representative from Saginaw County, and Henry Ashman, from Midland County, who were elected in November, 1856, in that session of the Legislature, both of whom, as they undoubtedly supposed their interests demanded and their supporters required of them, opposed our organization. " They undoubtedly acted conscientiously in their opposition, and consistently with their pledges before election, but I will say here, I do not know, and it is not charged, nor ever has been to our knowledge, that either of them did anything in their opposition dishonorable or unmanly. I give them credit that they acted, without doubt, as they thought their duty demanded. The Legislature at this time, one may say, was the same as unanimously Republican, and those sent to the * Third House ' to represent our interest and organization were wholly so, we hoping thereby a ' fellow feeUng ' might arise, and thereby the former opposition might abate somewhat. Such was the general effect. After a great deal of effort on the one side to secure our organization, and on the other to oppose and defeat it, a compromise was finally settled upon by the members of the * Third House ' and the members for Saginaw and Midland Counties, by the efforts and advice of the friends of the several parties interested; and it was a local matter, and the members of the counties interested therein finally approved of the bill, it passed the Legislature, and was approved by the Governor, February 17, 1857.

"The territory of Bay County at that time contained but few voters compared to Saginaw County, for Bay County only took a small part from Saginaw County. Its largest territory came from Midland County, viz. : the unorganized County of Arenac, in which territory at that time, aside from Indians, perhaps not ten voters resided.

"As long, stormy, and arduous as the efforts were to get the bill for our organization through the Legislature, yet more difficult and arduous were the labors to firmly determine and consummate the same, - that is, our sure and settled organization. Section 1 of the act organizing Bay County reads as follows:

" *That the following territory [described] shall be organized into a county, and shall be known and called Bay County i refer to the act of organization for the description, etc.], and the inhabitants thereof entitled to all the rights and privileges to which by law the inhabitants of the other organized counties of this state are entitled.'

"The original act presented, or to be presented, to the Legislature was drawn by C. H. Freeman, then and now of Bay City, and practicing law. The description of territory was made by B. F. Partridge, and had that bill passed as then drawn no question would ever have arisen as to the legality of our organization as a county, but the opposition to it was so great that the compromise heretofore spoken of was effected, and changes were necessarily made in the bill, and Section 2 was added, which became the bone of future contention.

"This said section, when first added, originally read at the commencement and ending as follows: - 'This act shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of Saginaw County, at the township meetings to be holden in said county [here providing how the vote should be taken, and the section ending], and in case a majority of the said votes upon the approval of this act shall be in favor of such approval, then this act shall take effect upon the 20th day of April, 1857 ; but if a majority of said votes shall be against such approval, then this act shall not take effect, but shall be void.'

"The honorable member from Saginaw County was perfectly satisfied that the act should pass in this shape, provided it was left to his constituents to say whether they should oppose it or not, or kill it and relieve him of the unenviable honor, as that would remove the contest from the Legislature to his constituents, who would kill it at once, for it was well known that there would be ten against to one for the act, if Saginaw County people had any right to vote on the question. Therefore the member for Saginaw, and others who opposed the organization, ceased their opposition to the bill in the Legislature, expecting to kill the whole thing at the polls; but ere the biU passed, there came in this good fortune for Bay County, if so it may be called. The member for Midland County thought Saginaw County should not have all the honor of slaughtering in its embryo the future organization of this county, but thought, and perhaps justly so, that his constituents also should have a hand in the game of kiUing the 'Little Giant,' while yet its nurse was trying to dress it in its swaddhng clothes ; and for such purpose offered an amendment to said section, by adding immediately after the words 'Saginaw County' the words 'Midland and Arenac Counties,' so that the act as passed reads:

" 'This act shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of Saginaw County, Midland and Arenac Counties, at the township meeting to be holden in said county.'

"The said vote was taken on the said first Monday of April, as provided for in the act, Saginaw and Midland also voting thereon. In the territory comprising Bay County, the vote was almost unanimous in favor of organization, there being 204 for, to 14 against; but in Saginaw and Midland Counties it was largely against, so much so as to be essentially unanimous against us. Great was the rejoicing of those opposed to the organization of Bay County, especially in Saginaw City, as the county seat was there. About onethird of the cases in the Circuit Court hailed from this part of Saginaw County, and necessarily contributed largely to their prosperity.

"Mr. Freeman always claimed that the act only left the vote of its approval to the voters of said county - that is Bay County, - and he now more vehemently than ever, as he saw from the opposition from the upper towns that the truthfulness of his position was the only probable chance of success, set the 'same forth as the only true construction of the act, and advised the election of county officers to take place as provided in the act of organization. Accordingly, the election was held on the first Monday in June, 1857. All the officers elected qualified.

"As I have heretofore said, the bone of contention was Section 2 - or, I should say, its true construction was such - and as the approval of the act, incident upon the vote of Saginaw and Midland Counties, was largely against its approval - that is, if the vote of Saginaw and Midland Counties was counted, but not otherwise - Saginaw and Midland now claimed that the act was not 'approved,' and that therefore it 'never took effect, 'and was void,' and claimed jurisdiction severally of that portion of Bay County set off from them; and more especially so did Saginaw County, for its interests were greater, and in proportion to the magnitude of its supposed or real interests, :.t set forth its claim. It set the same forth, and claimed jurisdiction over that portion of Bay County taken off, as described in the act, the same as if such act had never been passed, claiming that the same was null and void, for it had failed to be approved by the votes of Saginaw, Midland and Bay Counties, and the writs from the Circuit Court of that county continued to be issued by their county clerk, and to be served by the sheriff thereof, the same as if Bay County did not in fact exist, in all the territory taken from Saginaw County, including that in Bay County.

"The citizens of Bay County saw the dilemma and confusion matters were getting into on account of the conflict of jurisdiction, and many of them - and we may say the principal of them advised an acquiescence in the claim of Saginaw. And aUow me here to say that a very fortunate thing it was for Bay County that Mr. Freeman had an undying and irrepressible belief in his position, - that is, that the intention of the Legislature was to submit the approval of the act to the electors of Bay County only, - and who now, in this crucial time of our existence (for as a fact we did then exist, although it may be it was in a doubtful state, yet, as a fact nevertheless true), put forth and argued his position more vehemently and persistently than ever, and a few, and I believe I am justified in saying a very few, - partly to encourage him and stay his hands, and partly because they saw no other hope of success, gave him encouragement, hoping against hope that he was right, yet doubtful of the correctness of his position, still wiUing to give him all the encouragement they could until a final decision of the Supreme Court might settle the matter.

"Some of the more prominent persons of the upper towns who opposed our organization, as I have always understood, consulted quite a number of the best lawyers of the State on the question, and all were of but one opinion, and expressed but one, and that was that the vote w^as left to Saginaw, Midland, and Arenac Counties (Arenac was then an unorganized county, and was attached to Midland for judicial purposes), and that the vote was in the negative of the act of organization, and that therefore the same was not 'approved,' but was 'null and void.'

"Thus matters drifted, with clash of jurisdiction, and confusion was getting worse, when an opportunity was presented to test the question in a suit, wherein Mr. Freeman was attorney for the defendant, and Hon. John Moore, prosecuting attorney of Saginaw County, was for the prosecution. For the opportunity to so test this question Mr. Freeman had long been waiting, and as he knew some such case must come, he patiently bided his time, as I shaU narrate very soon. The late Hon. William M. Fen ton was associated with Mr. Freeman as counsel, and when he was retained by the defendant, pronounced at first sight, as all others had done, against the organization of Bay County; but when his attention w^as called more particularly to the wording of the act, and a few of the plain rudimentary principles of the construction of statutes, he saw at once his error, and entered into the spirit of the case. From that moment Mr. Freeman had a powerful assistant, true and faithful.

"Before going on with this case further, I will return to the Winter of 1858, when there was an extra session of the Legislature. Mr. Freeman and Mr. Daniel Burns were sent to the 'Third House' of that short session to see w^iat could be done in settling the organization of Bay County, and if possible to get the county definitely and permanently organized by the Legislature. Mr. Jerome, of Saginaw, and Mr. Ashman, of Midland, now as strongly as ever opposed us, or any act tending to legalize the organization. They saw the confusion matters were in, but said it was all ourselves and our figuring that had brought it about, by pretending to organize when we ought not to have done so. But on this point they were informed others differed with them, and as there were differences of opinion, even if nearly all were one way (here I will mention the fact that the chairman of the committee on towns and counties believed that Section 2 could have no other construction than such as Mr. Freeman gave to it, and he felt the necessity of something being done in the matter), yet the few had some right to demand respect. This they admitted, but still set themselves against anything like an organization. Many members of the Legislature, however, after they were shown how matters stood, thought that if we were not a county we ought to be one, and had shown ourselves worthy and well qualified to have an organization ; but then as it was a rule, although an unwritten one, that all local matters should be left to the members representing the district to be affected thereby, they did not wish to interfere, but they thought something should be done to settle the matters that were in Htigation, by appeal or otherwise, and they were willing to assist in such a way.

"The chairman of the committee on towns and counties was in favor of our organization, and assisted greatly in getting the bill through the Legislature.

"Quite a number of suits had been commenced in the township of Hampton. Some laid their venue in Bay County, and some in Saginaw County, just as the caprice of the plaintiff might suggest. The most of these suits were commenced in justice courts, and inmost cases the defendant in the case, where judgment was rendered against him, appealed to Bay or Saginaw County, knowing that if it were Bay County, the appeal to Saginaw would end the suit, and, vice

"Mr. Freeman had carefully prepared three bills before he started for the 'Third House.' These bills were approved by those interested for Bay County, and it was understood that if the members from Bay County to the 'Third House' could not get the one through that they wished, then they were to do the best they could.

"The chairman of the committee on towns and counties readily approved bill number one, that had been prepared, which w^ould, if passed, at once settle our organization. But Messrs. Jerome and Ashman had to be consulted. They could not be induced to be silent, should either of these bills be offered to the Legislature, and then the Governor would only recommend such a bill as all parties could agree upon, as general business demanded their attention before local bills. However just the Governor may have supposed he was, it only had the effect to give the members from Saginaw and Midland more power to kill the efforts made by our members to the 'Third House.' But the latter w^ent to work with a will, and Mr. Freeman then made an effort to prepare such a bill as the membeis from Saginaw and Midland would not oppose, if they could not approve. So, after several days, it was accomplished.

"The bill provided that the circuit judge of the district in which said County of Bay was situated should hold court in Bay City, in said territory, and should hear, try, and determine all suits commenced in said Circuit Court, in said territory, and all appeals to the same, etc., with other sections confirming jurisdiction in said territor}^

"This bill meeting the approval of the members for Saginaw and Midland Counties, was duly recomni'^^nded by the Governor and passed unanimously. The Governor had promised to approve the bill, but it having passed on Friday, too late to be approved by the Governor before he left the capitol, he did not receive the bill until the next week. Messrs. Freeman and Burns left the capitol for home on Saturday evening, well satisfied. When the Governor received the bill for approval he saw at once its force, I understand, - that is, that the bill really established the organization of Bay County, - and he sent for Messrs. Jerome and Ashman, as I am informed, and drew^ their attention to this fact, and wished^ to know if they desired him to approve the bill. Mr. Jerome, did not wish the bill approved, and it was not approved, although several other members urged the Governor's promise that the bill should be approved.

"Here it will be proper for me to say that one great objection raised to our organization was that it would be a Democratic county. But all joined in the assurance that such was nothing like a certainty, and that the probability w^as that a Eepublican member from Bay County w^ould be in the person of James Birney, and Mr. Freeman stated that under the circumstances Mr. Birney would be his choice. This was the last effort ever made through the Legislature toward an organization. Mr. Freeman and his friends saw that any further effort must be through the courts, based upon the act of 1857, and acted accordingly, and resolved to fight it through on that line, and the war went on.

"Mr. Freeman and Mr, Wright arranged a suit to be sent up to the Supreme Court for a decision. But the suit upon which the question was finally settled had been commenced in good faith. I now give the parties, as well as the attorneys, in this suit, and they were all interested on either side equally,as to the organization of Bay County, and the battle must now be fought on that line. It was Bay County or no Bay County. All parties prepared for action, each sure of the case in his favor.

perjury, said to have been committed June 29tli, 1857, at the township of Hampton. The defendant filed a plea of abatement, alleging that *the said supposed offense, if any was committed, was committed within the jurisdiction of Bay County, and not within the jurisdiction of this court' - meaning the jurisdiction of the Saginaw County Circuit Court. Upon this plea issue was taken, and a case was made and certified to the Supreme Court, and was heard at the May term, 1858, at Detroit. Mr. Freeman had staked his reputation as a lawyer upon the result of this suit, and he prepared a full and exhaustive argument in the case, and whoever may read the same will come to the same conclusion.

"A little incident in the passing events of the suit I feel called upon to relate quite fully, as it tends to show the opinion of the legal profession on this question, and the worth and character of the late Hon. William M. Fenton, of Flint, perhaps as no other thing could do. And this is my apology.

"It was well known that Mr. Freeman did not attend the Supreme Court on the argument of this case, for the reason that a few days before the case was to come on for argument, Mr. Freeman was confined to his bed with a fever, and was quite as insensible of what was going on in the case as 'Rip Van Winkle,' except that the suit was uppermost in his wild and feverish head. Now, Mrs. Freeman comprehended the situation, and kr.ew that Mr. Freeman could not possibly recover to be in Detroit to argue the case, so she sent all the papers with the argument prepared (in writing) to Mr. Fenton, informing him of the situation of her husband. Mr. Fenton replied to her, 'All shall be attended to,' and the result shows that it was. The first time Mr. Fenton met Mr. Freeman after the case was decided,- he said to him that when he arrived in Detroit several of the most prominent lawyers, (giving names), advised him to give up the suit, and not expose himself to ridicule, but to let Mr. Freeman alone, to fall, etc. He informed them that Mr. Freeman was sick and could not be there, and Mrs. Freeman had requested him to see to the suit, and he had written her that he would ; that he was of their opinion till his attention had been called to some of the words and language of the act, and he should soon call theirs to the same points. He had not gone far in the argument when it was conceded that his premises in the case were correct. The case was submitted, and the next morning the court upon opening gave the decision, which may be found commencing t)n page 114 of Fifth Michigan Reports - First, Cooley - sustaining the plea and thus declaring Bay County organized.

"The next morning after the decision was made, the news was received here by the Detroit boat, that being the most reliable and shortest route we had. There was a route by rail, stage, and canoe, and sometimes steamboat by the river in the season, and by skates and sleighs on the ice of the river in its season, but not any road for general travel nearer than East Saginaw, on this side of the river, and Zilwaukee on the other. There being no cannon here, and no military company with fire-arms, with which to sound the glad tidings of the reahty of Bay County, the only anvil in the county was pressed into service; and such cannonading would drown, and did drown, the sleepy ideas of some of the sleepy people of this infant city, and send them along the path to prosperity and to wealth. The news brought the people to their right senses, and the city and county have rushed along the rough track of building up, and burning down, and rebuilding in more substantial style."

When the decision upon the question of organization was rendered, the county officers were yet in power, but the sheriff, .William Simon, had removed from the county, and the vacancy was filled by the appointment of B. F. Partridge.

Fiest Supervisors Meeting

The first meeting of the Bay County Board of Supervisors occurred August 10, 1858. The Board was composed of Sydney S. Campbell from Hampton, and George W. Smock from Williams* and every member was present. Sydney S. Campbell was elected chairman by a unanimous vote. At this meeting the Board allowed and paid fourteen wolf certificates^ 'eleven of which were to Indians, total amount, f 112; total constable bills, $70.43; total justices' bills, $66.61; giving notice of election, claimed, $10, allowed, $5; total amount of A. Kaiser's bill for boarding prisoners was $1.

The first superintendents of the poor were E. N. Bradford, Israel Catlin and J. B. Hart. At the first meeting of the Board, October 10, 1858, the county treasurer's report showed county orders paid "to the amount of $78.14, leaving in the treasury $2.85. Thus it will be seen that the county expenses were extremely light, and all the biUs allowed are recorded as having been allowed by a 'unanimous vote.' But these two supervisors put on record a resolution that the chairman should be 'entitled to vote on all questions before the Board.' They paid the prosecuting attorney $50 a year, and other officers in proportion.

At a special meeting of the County Board, in February, 1859, the township of Arenac was erected into a township, with Daniel WiUiams, N. W. Sillibridge, and Daniel Shaw the Board of Inspectors, Peter Marksman being elected the first supervisor. But Peter Marksman resigned and M. D. Bourasso was appointed and took his seat.

At a special meeting held in March, 1859, the Board erected the town of Portsmouth. J. M. Miller, A. Stevens and William Dag- Iish were the first Board of Inspectors. Appleton Stevens was elected the first supervisor. In 1859 the town of Bangor was also erected into a township, and Scott W. Sayler was the first supervisor. So that the Board consisted of George E. Smith,, of Hampton, chairman, and four others at the bar meeting in 1859.

The State Legislature constructed the township of Beaver in February, 1867, by detaching territory from Williams, and the town elected Levi Williard, one of the oldest and most intelligent men in the town, its first supervisor. The Board of Supervisors, in January, 1868, passed an act to organize the town of Kawkawlin from the territory of Bangor, and Alexander Beard was the first supervisor to the Board.

The township of Monitor was made a township by an act of the Legislature in 1869, and William H. Needham was elected the first supervisor, and in 1870 the Board took a slice from the township of Arenac and formed the town of Au Gres, which sent the young lawyer, W. E. Bates, who had settled there, as their first supervisor to the Board, and in the same year another town was created from Arenac, called Clayton, and one of its hardy pioneers, William Smith, one of the most upright and intelligent men in the county, was its first supervisor. It will have been seen ere this that the county had rapidly advanced in population, and that they were distributed nearly all over the county, and other territory was being settled so fast that the inhabitants were driven to seek new organization of towns in order to construct roads and bridges for their use in getting in and out of this vast wilderness, and in 1871 the old town of Portsmouth was divided and the town of Merritt constituted and Henry F. Shuler was first supervisor. In March the charter of Bay City was so amended that it covered the village of Portsmouth, leaving a small amount of land without the Hmits of any town or city. So that the present town of Portsmouth was carved out of | that part left, and a portion of Merritt and a portion of Hampton, | and created into a town called Portsmouth, by an act of the Legislature, | in March, 1873, and the tow^n was fully organized the next week, B. | F. Partridge being elected their supervisor, and he has been re-elected ever since, holding the office of chairman of the Board.

In the year of 1873, the towns of Deep Eiver, Standish, and Pinconning were organized by act of the Legislature, and they sent from Deep Eiver, John Bullock, known all over the country as an intelligent gentleman; from Standish, Menzo Havens, whose father moved to the town years before from Ohio; from Pinconning, that old pioneer, Joseph U. Meech, as first supervisors to the Board. i

Still furthep north the country was settling, with the true men j of the nation, the soldiers of the late rebeUion, upon the rich Gov- - ernment lands, and in 1874 the townships of Moffat and Mason j knocked at the door of the Board of Organization, and were ad- | mitted, and the first supervisor from Moffat was Alvin N. Culver, i and Henry M. Smith was the supervisor from the town of Mason, | and the town from that time settled rapidly.

The next in order at the door for representation, w^as the town of Fraser, which the Legislature authorized to organize in 1875, sending William Mitchie as its first supervisor.

In 1866 the city sent to the Board from her three wards, Jerome B. Sweet, J. H. Little and Angus Miller, and in 1867 the Legislature had authorized the comptroller and city treasurer members exofficio of the Board, and again in the Spring of 1873, the city having acquired the village of Portsmouth and four additional wards, and being allowed four more supervisors and the city attorney and the recorder ex- officio members of the Board, the Board of Supervisors then counted a membership of twenty-eight; and then in the Spring of 1877, the city of West Bay City having been chartered with three wards, and allowed to send its recorder as ex-officio member, the Board consisted in 1877 of thirty-two members, and at the January session of the Board in 1880, the towns of Lincoln and Whitney were organized, which gave the county of Bay, in October, 1880, a membership of thirty-four.

The township of Frankenlust was detached from Saginaw County, and annexed to Bay by act of Legislature in the Winter of 1880-'81. The supervisor is John A. Leinberger.

County Seat

Immediately after the organization of the county, the county seat was located in Bay City. A resolution was passed at a subsequent meeting, changing it to Portsmouth, but it never went into effect, and was afterwards, at the next meeting of the board, changed back to Bay City. The two lots, where the court house and jail now stand, were set apart by the proprietors of the village for county buildings. In the Fall of 1858, while Gen. Partridge was sheriff, a wooden building was erected for a temporary jail, on Sixth Street, near Saginaw Street, and was used until destroyed in the fire of 1863. A wooden building belonging to James Fraser, on Water Street, was leased for a court house, and was used as such until 1868, when the present court house was built on the site before designated. After the destruction of the jail in 1863, a onestory wooden building, erected for the purpose by James Fraser, was leased until 1870, when the present jail building was erected on Center Street, nearly opposite the court house. This is an elegant modern style, two-story, w^hite brick building, combining a residence for the sheriff, with iron lined jail in the rear, the cells of boiler iron being two stories in height in the center of the main room, with large corridors between the gratings and the outer walls. The upper story of the building is fitted with accommodations for females and fraudulent debtors; the whole structure is furnished with the most approved modem appliances for the safe and healthy detention of prisoners, pending their trial. Water pipes and closets are arranged with an eye to the comfort and health of the prisoners, while measures for their proper use of the same are fully provided for. The jail is esteemed a model one, and both it and the court house are taken as patterns by surrounding counties in similar erections. The cost of the jail building and court house was about $75,000. They are a credit to the county, and ornaments to the city. A view of each. is given in this work.

County Fakm

In the year 1866, the Board of Supervisors purchased a tract of prairie land, on the east side of the Saginaw River, near the bay, comprising about 120 acres, upon which suitable buildings have been erected, including a hospital, and retreat for mild cases of insanity, and the grounds have been thoroughly ditched, drained, and cultivated to a point, relieving the county of a large portion of expense attending the care of the few paupers who make claim as charges upon the county.

Saw-Mills, Logs And Lumber Eably History

" The pioneers of Michigan, who settled in the northern part of the state forty years ago, were fully aw^are that there were vast forests of pine timber lying around their settlements, and to the north of them, but could not have anticipated the great value which the rapid improvement of our whole country, and especially the western portion of it, has found those forests to possess. The early settlers of that portion of Michigan of which I am writing, were principally from the New England States and from New York, and when they looked back to the large amount of pine timber they had left behind them, they did not suppose that in their life-time it would be exhausted, and that large amounts would have to be transported from a thousand miles interior to supply the Atlantic States. At that time Maine was of itself considered a ' world of pine forests,' and its proximity to Boston gave that city and the state of Massachusetts a supply of cheap lumber; and passing along farther west and south we find the Connecticut River reaching far up into the region of pine forests in northern Vermont and New Hampshire, and large quantities of pine in every shape, from the tall spar used in fitting out our Atlantic marine, down to manufactured clap-boards and shingles annually floated down its rapid current to supply western Massachusetts and the state w^hich adopted the name of the said river, witliout a thought on the part of the consumers that the supply was ever to be exhausted. The supply of z^- pine timber on the banks of the Connecticut River was considered by the early settlers in that region as inexhaustible. The writer has seen large quantities of pine logs near the banks of the river, not over one hundred miles t^om its mouth, which had been hauled from the land by the early settlers while clearing it for cultivation, rolled into a ravine and suffered to decay, which if they were now sound, would be worth more than the farm from which they were cut. If the man is not now living, he has but recently passed away, who was hired by the proprietor of this same farm to fell the pine trees on a certain tract of land for no other purpose than that they should not draw sustenance from the soil and thereby impoverish it and lessen its value for future cultivation. It must be admitted that said proprietor was not a skillful woodsman, nor an experienced agriculturist, he being an English sea captain. I mention this reckless destruction of a commodity which time and circumstances have made so valuable, as a warning to prevent the proprietors of Michigan forests from permitting any waste of their timber; for in less time than has passed away since the circumstance transpired that I have related above, a good pine lumber tree will be as great a rarity in Michigan as it is now in that part of Vermont. 1 believe that every sound forest tree in Michigan, of whatever kind, is of more value to the proprietor than the ashes it will make, after bestowing much labor to convert it mto that commodity. If more land is required for cultivation, let it be supplied by the boundless prairies of the West, but let our Michigan forests remain till the timber is required for some useful purpose, and then let the land be put into the highest state of cultivation. But to return to the pine forests of the Eastern States forty years a.go. Passing over the Green Mountains we come to the pine region of Lake Champlain, and fche waters emptying into it, which, with regions on the head waters of the Hudson, produced such quantities of lumber, finding a market at Albany, that that city was for a long time the great lumber mart of the United States, and she stiU maintains an ascendency in that trade, although the great source of supply is now in the West and Canada. We might continue and mention the regions of the Delaware and Susquehanna, as the great source of supply for the more Southern and Atlantic cities, and then pass on to western New York and look at the head waters of the Genesee and its branches. I was recently told by a pioneer of northern Michigan, that a little more than forty years ago, he was in the town of Dansville, which is situated on a branch of the Genesee River, and that within four or five miles of that town good pine lumber could be bought at the mills for $2.50 per thousand, and paid for in almost any kind of barter, and that in 1826, after the Erie Canal was open and in use from Albany to Buffalo, pine lumber was sold in the city of Rochester for f 6, $8 and f 10 per thousand. In view of the circumstances related above, it cannot be supposed that at that time the idea could have been conceived of doing a profitable business by manufacturing lumber in the forests of Michigan, and transporting it to the Atlantic cities.

"The first saw mill that was ever built on waters that are tributary to the Saginaw River, was the one built on the Thread River at Grand Blanc, in 1828 and 1829, by Rowland Perry and Harvey Spencer. The object of building the mill was to supply the want of that settlement, the nearest mill to it then being at Waterford, about twenty miles distant. There was no pine timber in the immediate vicinity of the mill, the nearest being a small pinery four or five miles distant, in a northeasterly direction, from which the farmers used to haul logs, to be manufactured into lumber for their own use. The mill was a poor affair, not profitable to the owners, and after three or four years was wholly abandoned, and the land which was occupied by the pond has been cultivated for over thirty years. The second mill was built by Rufus Stevens in 1829 and 1830, on the same stream, four or five miles north of the one first mentioned, and within two miles of the Flint River, just above the present location of the ' Thread Mills.' That mill was run a portion of each year for several years, but without much profit to the owner. The supply of pine logs was procured from the pinery heretofore mentioned, the pinery being within about two miles of the last mentioned mill. The first raft of lumber that ever floated on the tributaries of the Saginaw was manufactured at this mill, and hauled across to Flint River and floated down that stream. There was an attempt made in 1830 by Alden Tupper to build a mill on the Flint River, below Flushing, but never progressed any further than to erect a frame which was suffered to stand without covering till it rotted down. No mills were built on any of the tributaries of the Saginaw except those above mentioned previous to the building of the steam mill by Harvey and G. D. and E. S. Williams in 1835. Harvey Williams had previously been engaged in Detroit in building the engines of the steamboat * Michigan,' which in her day was the finest boat that had ever floated on the western lakes, and after completing his contract in winding up his business in that city, he took a steam engine and machinery for a saw mill which he transported to Saginaw, and in company with G. D. and E. S. Williams, erected in 1835 the mill at Saginaw City, which was the first steam mill erected in the Saginaw Valley, if not the first in the state of Michigan. Joel L. Day, late of Bay City, performed the mill-wright work and put in the first mulay saw that was ever used in this part of the country. During the Winter of 1835 and 1836, a fine stock of logs for the mill was provided on the banks of the Titfcabawassee, near Sturgeon Creek, and run to the mill, and owing to the local demand for timber, I think the Messrs. Williams did a profitable business with their miU during the season of 1836.

"When the Messrs. Williams began to operate their mill, so little was known about running steam saw mills economically, that when they commenced to build their new mill they contracted for large quantities of cord wood to be delivered for fuel with which to run it.

"In 1834 there was but one saw running on the Saginaw River. That was before the days of mulay saws, but the machinery that propelled that saw was fearfully and wonderfully made. Charles A. Lull was the sash and I was the pitman. When I was a lumberman, the season's cutting for one saw was estimated at one million feet. We fell short of that amount that year ; but we did cut enough to lay the floors in Mr. Lull's log house that he built on his farm, which is now in the town of Spaulding, and which was the first house built in Saginaw County away from the banks of the river.

"After purchasing the Portsmouth tract I found it would be necessary, in order to build up a town, to first erect a steam saw mill. The only one in the vicinity was the Wilhams'jnill, at Saginaw City, and all the lumber that mill could manufacture was used up in that town as fast as it was sawed. I remember during the Summer 1836, a vessel came into the river from Chicago, and the parties controlling her offered to wait till a load of lumber could be sawed, and to pay the price that it was selling for at the miU, which was $12 per thousand feet as it run, and would give a' bonus of $200 if they ^ould be accommodated ; but Messrs. Williams refused to do it for the reason that all the lumber they could make was required for use in their own town. The reason the Chicago parties were so'anxious to obtain the lumber was that they had purchased lots in that town, a part of the consideration for which was the erection of buildings on them, and if they failed in that they would forfeit their lots, which were then becoming valuable ; but I do not think lots in Chicago that year sold as high as they did in Saginaw City. In pointing out the location of Portsmouth on the map to some New York gentlemen, at the ^Exchange' in Detroit, they seemed to think weU of it, but remarked that a dozen other locations on the river might be equally as valuable which would detract from the value of that particular location. A military looking gentleman standing by, who was a stranger to me, volunteered a minute description of every point on the Saginaw River from its mouth to the point where it is formed by the junction of the Shiawassee and Tittabawassee. I wondered who it was that was so well acquainted with the formation of the land and water in that location ; I afterwards learned that it was Colonel Baker, who commanded the troops while stationed at Saginaw in 1822. The mill built at Portsmouth in 1836 and 1837 was small compared with some built in these days, but when we look at the condition of the country at that time and the many dijfficulties to overcome in prosecuting an enterprise of that kind, we find the undertaking tx) be of greater magnitude than would appear to the reader of the present day.

"At the time the building of the mill was commenced, in October, 1836, Louis Masho resided with his family of halfbreeds on what is now known as the Ingraham property. Joseph and Medor Trombley had a trading post where the Center House now stands. Neither of them had families then. John B. Trudell and family resided near where the Watson house now stands, and Leon Trombley resided near the point where the Birney Block in Bay City is now located. Those are all the families I now recollect that resided in this vicinity at that time; others came in soon after. Cromwell Barney, late of Bay City, undertook the erection of the frame of the wood-work of the mill (a house had first to be built to shelter the workmen), while I undertook the task of procuring an engine and machinery, which was no slight undertaking, when we consider the difficulties of transportation at that season of the year, and the fact that nothing of the kind could be procured in the state of Michigan. Harvey Williams was at the same time engaged in procuring machinery for the old yellow mill that formerly stood in the south part of East Saginaw. We went together to Cleveland to get our mill gearing, and while there I heard of a second-hand engine at Huron, 0., which I purchased, and had the whole shipped to Detroit; and then the great difficulty was to get transportation to Portsmouth. The lateness of the season and the large amount of supplies that had to be shipped from New York and Ohio, to support the large immigration into the state that year, rendered it very difficult to get anything transported to the Upper Lakes. After spending two weeks in Detroit, waiting to find a vessel that I could charter, the schooner 'EHzabeth Ward,' sixty-ton burthen, arrived from Buffalo, and I applied to Gray & Gallagher, who contracted her for charter to the Saginaw River. The captain of the vessel refused to make another trip that season, but the owners told me if I would furnish my own men they would let her make the trip for f 800. At the same time they recommended a person whom I could get for master, in whose charge they would trust the vessel. In the meantime, while at Detroit I had purchased a stock of $4,000 or $5,000 worth of goods, and was determined that nothing that was within my power to overcome should prevent my pushing onward the enterprise of building the mill. Before acceptnig Gray & Gallagher's proposition for a charter, I got a proposition from them for the sale of the vessel at $2,500, so I purchased it, believing that to be the best bargain of the two ; hired the man for master that was recommended by Gray & Gallagher, got my engine, boilers, machinery and goods on board, with considerable freight for other parties. Among the rest were a lot of supplies for Howard & Van Etten to be left at the Sauble River. They had at that early day commenced building a water mill at the outlet of Van Etten Lake, near the Sauble. They expended a great deal of money there, but after their dam had been carried away or undermined two or three times, they gave up the enterprise. I believe they never sawed any lumber there. High prices prevailed in every department in 1836. I had to pay $2.50 per day for common sailors, and for other labor in proportion. I had several men under wages on the vessel, employed to go to Portsmouth and assist in getting the mill to running. After getting everything and*everybody on board the vessel, that I

Im.mediately after that I started for Portsmouth on horseback, in order to meet the vessel on her arrival. By this time the weather had set in cold, and the mud in the road was partially frozen, which rendered the traveling very bad, but with some difficulty I arrived at Flint with my horse, and was there told by my friends that I might as well leave my horse there as to leave it in the woods on the way to Saginaw, for it would be impossible for a horse to perform -the journey to Saginaw at that time. By leaving my horse at Flint I was obliged to undertake the journey to Portsmouth by water, as my health was so much impaired by exposure and fatigue in getting my vessel and making preparations for her sailing, that I dare not undertake the journey on foot. In those days I was as much at home, and almost as much at ease, in a canoe, as I am now in an arm-chair. I purchased a canoe and started on my way down Flint River, and met with no obstacle to impede my progress, till shortly after leaving Mr. McCormick's, at Pewanagowink, I encountered a jam of ice in the river, which filled it from shore to shore. I landed my canoe, and hauled it out on the bank, and started down the river, and had not proceeded far before encountering a bayou, which after endeavoring to pass around I had to cross, breaking the ice before me with my arms, and wading in cold water to my arm-pits. I arrived that night at the house of John Farquharson, who, with his son James, was keeping bachelor's hall near the drift-wood on the Fhnt. The next day I arrived at Mr. Jewett's, at Green Point, where I might have remained to recuperate my exhausted body after the exposure and fatigue it had endured, had not my anxiety about my vessel been so great that I could not rest. I immediately pushed onward, passing down the river on the east side from Green Point to Portsmouth, and here I found the river closed with ice, and no tidings of the vessel. The ice being strong enough to walk on, I sent men daily to the mouth of the river to see if they could gain any tidings of her, but nothing could be seen or heard respecting her. At that time there was no friendly light to guide the mariner to what is now one of the greatest lumber marts in the world, and we did not know but the vessel had missed her way and was frozen in at some other point in the Bay. Whenever a mail would arrive at Saginaw, which was once a month, I would send there for letters. Once I" sent two young men in my employ to the postoffice, before the ice on the river was strong enough to bear, and in crossing the prairies they got lost and remained out all night. At last I got news that the man I had put in charge of the vessel had turned out to be an unprincipled scamp, and instead of endeavoring to push forward to the Saginaw River, he had sailed the vessel to Port Huron, tied up there and sent to Detroit for his family, and was living very comfortably on board. When I received the news I started again for Detroit. The ice on the Saginaw River would not bear a horse, so there was no way to go but to walk. My tired hmbs performed their office till I reached Green Point, and then exhausted nature refused longer to obey the duties of the will. I was there thrown on a bed of sickness from which I did not arise for three weeks. As soon as I was able I proceeded to Detroit, where I found a friend who had been to Port Huron, discharged the faithless captain, paid off the crew, and stopped some of ihe heavy expenses that were running against me. While at Detroit I determined to proceed with the building of the mill. I found on my arrival at Portsmouth that Mr. Barney had ^finished his part of the contract by having it ready to receive the machinery, and during the Winter of 1836-'37 I had all my stock of goods and every pound of iron that was used in building the mill hauled in sleighs through St. Clair, Macomb, Oakland, Genesee and Saginaw Counties to Portsmouth, and we got the mill running on the 1st of April, 1837, at which time there was very Httle home demand for lumber, and there was no point to which lumber could be shipped where it would sell for enough to pay freight. The foregoing narrates some of the hardships endured, and difficulties encountered by the pioneers in endeavoring to inaugurate the manufacture of lumber in the Saginaw Valley."

The mill referred to stood on the present site of Albert Miller's upper salt block. For reasons already given, it was operated but a short time and then shut down. In 1841 it was purchased by James McCormick, and his son James J. They shipped the first cargo of lumber from the Saginaw Eiver. This was shipped to Detroit and sold for $8 per thousand, one-third cash, balance at eight and ten months ; the lumber running 60 per cent, uppers. It was carried by the Conneaut packet, commanded by Capt. George Eaby. They operated the mill until 1816, when James McCormick died. James J. McCormick continued the business until 1849, when he went to California. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1862.

The lumber business languished for several years. The general depression crowded prices below cost of manufacturing, and the work of developing the vast lumber resources of this region was delayed until 1844. In the Winter of 1844-'45, Messrs. Cromwell Barney and James Fraser erected a water mill at Kawkawlin. This work was done under the supervision of Mr. Israel Catlin, who is still a resident of Bay City. Mr. CatHn superintended the running of the mill for about two years.

In 1845-'46 Messrs. Hopkins, Pomeroy and Fraser erected the first mill built in what was then Lower Saginaw. It stood on the present site of the mill owned by Mr. S. G. M. Gates, on Water Street, a short distance south of Center Street.

In 1847, Catlin & Fraser built the mill known afterward as the Jennison & Rouse Mill. Its original capacity was 6,000 feet of lumber a day. It was located on Water Street, between Eighth and Ninth Streets, and was finally destroyed by fire, and not rebuilt.

In 1850 building began in earnest, and some twelve to fourteen mills were built during the next four years, as will be seen in the history of the mills. In 1857 there were fourteen mills in Bay County, cutting from 1,500,000 to 4,000,000 each.

Some Of The Changes Of Twenty Years

The following is from the pen of George W. Hotchkiss, secretary of the Chicago Lumberman's Exchange, and a former resident of Bay City. Speaking of the mills of 1860 he says:

" The saw mills of those days all used gate, muley and circular saws. I think there was but one gang on the river, and the manufacture of timber amounted to about 300,000,000 feet of lumber and 300,000,000 cords of sawdust yearly. This latter estimate may be a trifle exaggerated, but the circular saws of that day were mostly of about six-gauge, swayed to four gauge, and the saw -dust heap rivaled the lumber pile. When the late Joseph E. Shaw arrived in the valley, proposing to build a saw mill, he remarked to me, as we stood by a circular which was cutting about a half-inch saw-kerf, ' I would like to get a contract for sawing 50,000,000 feet per year with gang saws, taking the saving in sawdust for my saw biU.'

" The 300,000,000 feet production of twenty years ago has in no wise decreased, and it is the boast of the citizens that the season of 1882 will end with a record of not far from 1,000,000,000 feet production. I will at present speak simply of the changes in machinery which have enabled this enormous increase. There are not to exceed one-third more mills on the Saginaw Eiver at this time than there were in 1860, but their capacity is fully three-fold. Where then the thick circular saw demanded a toll of pretty near one-half in kerf, and it cost the manufacturer of lumber nearly as much to get rid of his debris as to take care of his lumber, the manufacture of the present day is carried on with thin circulars judiciously swayed to a clearance of the saw blade, with a view to as little sawdust and as much lumber as possible. A large proportion of the mills run gangs, in which the waste of saw -kerf is reduced to a minimum, and the old idea of a circular saw having hard work to hold its own in slabbing for gang, the two combined being thought to do good work if averaging 50,000 feet per day, is exploded in the realization that a circular is no great shakes which does not make a daily average of 50,000 feet, and help the gang along beside. The change in this respect is notable. In 1853, a manufacturer at Saginaw City invited me to visit his mill on a certain afternoon, as he had wagered a bottle of champagne with some of his friends that his circular saw would average 1,500 feet per hour the whole afternoon. He was not certain that he could win, but he knew that his saw had cut as high as 2,000 feet for one single hour, and he beheved he could do nearly as well for half a day. Contrast this with the work now so common in circular mills which cut from 4,000 feet to as high as 9,000 feet per hour. Of course the old style mill did not have steam feed, nor yet wire-rope feed, and the rapid motion of the carriage made possible by their use could not be thought of with the old rack and pinion. When my friend won his wager, his edging table had to run half the night to clear up the sidings which so extraordinary a cut had buried it under, for the double edger of to-day was unknown. I am not sure but my friend's wager and success was what led inventive genius to study some means by which an edger could keep up with the main saw, and thus the wonderfully effective machine, which not only takes care of all that comes to it, but whistles for more in its insatiable greed, was added to the catalogue. I have spoken of the improved blooded cattle and horses of Bay County. When the circular found its true gait, there arose an imperative necessity for a new breed of dogs, and no saw mill to-day would try to reach its limit of speed and capacity by the use of the mangy cur which formerly required its back to be broken with a heavy maUet before it would take hold and bite into the timber. Those were not days of railroad transportation, and extra weight did not count for much if it was dry lumber. Such a thing as a trimmer was unknown. I might mention many other adjuncts to modern mills, of which the ancients of 1860 were ignorant, all of which have done so much to enable the mills of the Saginaw Valley to make their record of a bilhon feet in one season.

At The Close Of 1882

The following comprehensive review of the season of 1882 was made by the Lumhermans Gazette^ and it covers the ground so thoroughly that we use it in this connection :

" It has been a year of successful and satisfactory prosperity in all its departments, and better still, the outlook foresRadows the fact and is brilliant and abundant with hope that this prosperity will continue through the season of 1883. This unequaled prosperity has been expansive, and to a gratifying degree has affected all the other branches of trade and industry, which have been to a greater or less extent dependent thereon; and considering this fact, it is especially satisfactory to note that Bay City with the other valley cities have expanded and advanced by leaps and bounds of industrial and commercial activity and importance and general prosperity which is surpassed by few sections on the continent.

"The season of 1882 commenced at the opening of navigation with the prices of lumber materially enhanced above what had been asked or even expected during the preceding Winter months, and this advance has been fully and steadily maintained up to the close. A reference to our table will disclose the fact also that the lumber cut of the Saginaw River is greater than that of any year since the commencement of the business. As the shipments by water have also been the largest in the history of the movement of forest products from the river, it will be readily observed that to the manufacturer it has been a year of unrivalled prosperity. Taken^in connection with this the fact that the salt production of the year is the largest since the inception of the business in 1860, we are warranted in congratulating the mill men on the Saginaw^ River on the abundant prosperity which has crowned their efforts. It has been to them a year prolific of glorious results. It was entered upon with plethoric purses, the fruits of the preceding season's labor, which enabled them virtually to control the market, and resist any effort from whatever direction to force sales at a reduction. Indeed, this was hardly required, as the demand for their product has been steady and persistent during the entire season. It appeared to be not so much a question as to the price demanded as the abihty to supply the demand, especially in the finer grades of lumber. The season opened with a good supply of logs in the booms, which with the new crop were amply sufficient to keep the mills in constant operations, and the boom companies have exhibited unusual enterprise in pushing them forward to their destination. The mills in the aggregate have been constantly employed. No labor disturbances have interfered with the successful prosecution of business, and taken as a whole, employer and employe alike have just cause for congratulation. Of course, as is invariably the rule, there are individual cases to which general results are not apphcable, but such cases are very marked exceptions. In fact, so universal has been the prosperity, that it would be almost unreasonable to expect a repetition. The grave fears expressed by some very cautious operators at the .commencement of the season, that the success of the preceding year, added to the unusual activity which had characterized operations in the woods, and the great activity with which the season opened, would result in overproduction, and hasten an era of stagnation, have failed of reahzation. Business has been prosecuted with unusual vigor and energy, mills generally have been operated to the extent of their capacity, and the lumber cut has aggregated more than that of any previous year, but the demand and the facilities for moving the product have been equal to the emergency, and nothing has intervened to mar the general prosperity. True, we have over 300,000,000 feet of lumber on the docks, the greatest amount ever left over, a large portion of which is unsold, but it must not be forgotten in this connection that the ^ Tittabawassee boom has only about 60,000,000 feet of logs leftover against about 300,000,000 the year preceding. The lumber, therefore, on the docks is simply the usual surplus of the Tittabawassee boom converted into lumber, w^hich at the opening of navigation will be ready for the market in at least a partially seasoned condition. While the facilities for production and production itself have been increased, it must be remembered that the demand has fully kept pace. The natural increase of population in the territory to which our lumber is tributary and the opening up of new industries demanding the Saginaw River product are constantly increasing. This is the eastern limit of lumber production among the Western States, and- the Eastern demand cannot fail to be continuous and persistent so long as the production continues, and the pine timber is sufficient for the drafts made upon it. Li connection with the fact that we have a large amount of lumber crosspiled on the docks it will be well to consider that other fact that shipments by rail the past season have been heavy, and are still continued, and it may therefore be reasonably expected that large inroads will be made in the stock on hand before the first lumberladen vessel leaves the river next Spring.

a continually increasing demand, with a positive and certain reduction of the commodity. Of course the lumber industry is not beyond the reach of a great financial disaster, which might send consternation and ruin into the ranks of operators, but, barring such a calamity, the outlook is of the most gratifying and assuring character.

'* The past year has been one of prosperity not alone to the manufacturer of lumber; the artisan, the mechanic, the laborer, the merchant, and the agriculturist all have felt its beneficent influence. The business of the merchant has been extensive and remunerative, and the mechanic and laborer have found ample employment generally at remunerative wages. Of course labor troubles in other sections have to a certain extent marred the year's prosperity, but it is recognized that this might with judicious management have been avoided, and has been more the result of demagoguery than real grievances. On the Saginaw River and tributary territory, the most harmonious feeling has existed between employer and employe, nothing having intervened^ to mar these pleasant relations. The mill operatives generally at the close of the milling season have hied themselves away to the pineries, for the same employers, and the reciprocal feehng of consideration still remains uninterrupted. To the agriculturist nature has been grandly prolific in bestowment. Abundant crops have crowned his labors and blessed his store. This is an important fact for consideration in connection with the lumber trade, and must necessarily have an important bearing thereon, at least during the season of 1883. The effects of the past season's prolific crops have not yet reached the lumber indus- try to any appreciable extent. The decline in the price of cereals induced the farmer to hold back his crop and defer intended building improvements, which will possibly be commenced as soon as the weather permits in the Spring. This will give an impetus to all other industries, but it will have an especially important bearing on the lumber trade, which warrants the belief that the demand for lumber thus produced will have a strong tendency to maintain present satisfactory prices."

Season Shipments For A Series Of Years From The River

The following statement shows the aggregate shipments of lumber and shingles from the opening of navigation to the close of the years named :

Comparisons Between 1857 And 1882

The following comparisons between work done in 1857 and that done by some of the mills in 1882, furnish some idea of the progress of twenty-five years :

Logging Opekations

The wonderful results that have been accompHshed in the manufacture of lumber are due, not alone to improved machinery, but to improved systems of labor, as well. In no other business are the systems and methods of labor more thoroughly organized and adhered to. From the time the towering pine in the forest is noted in the minutes of the land hunter, until in the form of lumber, lath and shingles, it is piled upon the vessel or car, there Is no deviation from carefully devised plans of action.

The logging operations form a distinct business by themselves and during the Winter months create a new world which drains the manufacturing centres of quite a considerable part of their population. Thousands of people observe saw mills in operation, devouring logs with marvelous rapidity, without having any conception of the methods employed to obtain the logs. The logging camp, and the process of converting the tree into logs and placing them in the streams, are interesting factors of the lumber business. The following description has already been pubhshed, but it covers the ground so well that we give it in this connection. The writer says :

"In the first place, in starting a *«amp' a foreman who has entire control of it is hired, and, with as many men as are required to 'run it,' builds the camp by notching the ends of logs together and building them the same as a log house is built, only the camps are usually one story, just high enough to admit a person, and the roof made of boards covered with tarred paper. A camp consists of the 'men's' shanty, cook shanty, barns, blacksmith shop and one or two other shanties to live in. As soon as these are erected the *boys' begin chopping the timber down, while the sawyers saw the balance of it. The swampers are cutting the brush out of the way and logs, etc., for the skidders, who, with teams, as fast as the sawyers get out of the way, throw the logs on the skidways, two logs laid on the ground parallel with each other, and about six or eight feet apart, and pile the logs up till they look like a hay stack. When the logs get so high the men can't roll them up with canfc hooks, the skidder, with team, 'decks' them by drawing or rolHng them up with a long chain or rope. In the meantime a certain number of men are set to work building roads from the camps to their banking ground, by clearing a place about twelve feet wide of all stumps, roots, etc., so that when the snow comes there will be no obstructions whatever to the sleighs. Branch roads are built leading to the main roads in all directions. Trees are cut up according to the number of logs they will cut. Some trees will make three sixteen-foot logs and a twelve-foot log; some more. It is calculated that a chopper will trim,measure and get timber ready for the sawyer. The 'tote' team is kept on the road between the camp and the place where supplies are got, drawing supplies into the camp. As soon as snow comes in sufficient quantities, sleighs are got out and most of the teams go to hauling. The most of the sleighs have eight or nine feet bunks, and they hold immense loads of logs, loads being drawn scaling all the way from 3,000 to 6,000 and 7,000 feet, making so many trips each day. Teamsters have to get up about 3 o'clock a. M., to get their trips in. In skidding, a pair of tongs are used now instead of a chain, resembling a pair of ice tongs, which are hooked into an end of a log in a second and the log is under way* When the men are a half a mile or a mile away at work a long tin horn about five feet long is Used to call them to dinner. When the roads are being packed to haul on, and when they have begun hauhng, a * sprinkler' is run all night every night during cold weather, which is a huge box, water-tight, holding forty or fifty barrels, set on sleighs, the same as a wagon box. A slide in the rear lets the water run out on to the road, and freezing as fast as it touches the road, soon forms a road of solid ice, which lasts until warm weather in the Spring. "

Curtis Emerson was running a mill at Saginaw, in 1847, and that Winter had a logging camp near Oaro, Tuscola County, There were but four steam saw mills on the Saginaw Kiver, one at Saginaw City, one at Portsmouth, one at Lower Saginaw, and the old yeUow mill at East Saginaw, generally known as the Emerson Mill. The entire cut of these four mills for 1847 was less than 3,000,000 feet. For the season of 1847 Emerson stocked his mill with logs from the Cass River, and his lumber camp was within a half mile of Caro, now the county seat of Tuscola County. At that time, after leaving a small clearing of three or four acres, made by John Miller, a blacksmith, about a half mile out of the present village of Tuscola, then a small hamlet, the whole country of the Cass was a howling wilderness; not a blow had been struck or a tree cut by a white man. The only way of penetrating the vast and unsettled portion of the country was by an Indian trail. At that time Tuscola was the only organized township in the county. At the Spring election of 1847 there were only thirty-six votes cast, which represented the entire voting population of Tuscola County.

In cutting his lumber roads, Emerson followed, the greater part of the way, the Indian trail, which increased the distance some three or four miles, and made the distance from the village of Tuscola to his camp about twenty-five miles. His camp was supplied with hay from low lands about three miles below the city limits, and his men in camp supphes from the city of Flint. It took four full days to make a round trip to his camp. Hay cost him when delivered $40 per ton, and the camp supplies in about the same proportion. The logs got out at his camp that Winter were of cork pine, and run largely into the upper qualities of lumber. From this lot of logs in 1847 was shipped out of Michigan the first full cargo of clear lumber. It was consigned to C. P. Williams & Co., Albany, N. Y. At this early day there were no lumber scows, steamboats, or steam tugs on the Saginaw River. The lumber was thrown from the docks into the river and then rafted and then poled down the river and out five miles into the bay, and then put on board of vessels. At that time there was about four and a half feet of water on the CarroUton Bar.

A Load Of Logs

A load of logs, said to have been the largest ever hauled by a single pair of horses, was hauled at a camp on'tjie Pinconning Railroad, February 24, 1883. The team weighing about 2,860 pounds, was driven by a man called "Black Tom Burns*" The load was hauled a distance of one and one quarter miles, and the logs scaled 16,613 feet.

Rafting Operations

The streams that have furnished the logs for the Saginaw River mills, and in what is commonly termed the Saginaw lumber district, are the Cass, Flint, Shiawassee, Bad,Tittabawassee and tributaries, Kawkawlin, Rifle, Shore, Pine, Saginaw, Au Gres, Au Sable and tributaries. The great bulk of logs, however, during the past years, have been furnished by the Tittabawassee and tributaries, and when this supply commences to diminish the backbone of the log product will have been broken. The Au Sable and tributaries contribute of late but few logs to the Saginaw mills. They are manufactured at Au Sable, Oscoda and other shore points, and rafted to the lower lake points. The Au Sable contributes a portion of its stock to the Tawas mills, but the bulk of Rifle and Au Gres logs come to the Saginaw River,

The Cass, Bad, Shiawassee and Flint, among the first lumbered, have passed out of calculation as log producing streams, as a basis of supply, each contributing but a small amount. Although logs had been run out of Cass River previous to 1864, in large quantities, the Huron Log Boom Company was not organized un^il that year, and has since handled the product of the stream, which has diminished from 100.000,000 feet to 5,000,000 feet the present year.

The main source of supply for the Saginaw mills, as stated, is the Tittabawassee and tributaries, which are the Chippewa, Tobacco, Molasses, Pine, Salt and Cedar.

The Tittabawassee* Boom Company was organized in 1864, and during the first year of its existence rafted out 90,000,000 feet of logs. In 1865 the product was 180,000,000 feet, and in 1866, 186,000,000 feet were rafted. In 1867 the company rafted out and delivered 236,000,000 feet. The amount furnished this season, however, exceeds any previous year. The Bad River Boom Company rafted out 20,000,000 feet of logs m 1865, and 23,000,000 in 1806. The Kawkawlin, Rifle and Au Gres Boom Companies were subsequently organized. A detailed statement for the past ten years shows as follows :

Logs By Rail

Ten years ago the idea of hauling pine logs by rail would not have been entertained as a profitable undertaking, but of late years it is a recognized industry. Aside from the short hues that are scattered throughout the pine forests of Northern Michigan, logs are hauled in great quantities by railroads to terminal points. The F. & P. M. Eailroad handles pine logs extensively, the bulk of the product coming to the Saginaw Eiver. The Mackinaw division of the Michigan Central has handled a large quantity of pine logs during the past two years. The Tawas & Bay County Eoad hauls logs to Tawas, and Saginaw Bay & Northwestern haul a good many logs to Saginaw Bay, which come to Saginaw Eiver mills.