lass _ Book 1 K ririral Society, of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia, of the New-Yoru Lyceu.n of Natural History, and of the Lyceum of Natural History of Troy. Embellished with a map and eight copper plate engravings." In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United Slates, entitled •' An act lor the en- couragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned ;" and also, to the act entitled " An act supplementary to an act entitled "An act for the encouragement of learn- «"£> hy securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of Designing, Engraving and Etching historical and other prints." RICHARD R. LANSING, Clerk of the Northern District v/Nav-fork. TO THE HOK. 30HK C. CALHOUW, SECRETARJf AT WAR. SIR, Allow me to inscribe to you the following Jour- nal, as an illustration of my several reports, on the mineralogy of the regions visited by the recent ex- pedition, under Gov. Cass. I beg you will consider it, not only as a proof of my anxiety to be serviceable in the station occupied, but also, as a tribute of individual regard, for those exertions which have been made, during your admi- nistration of the War Department, to develope the physical character and resources of all parts of our country, — to the patronage it has extended to the cause of science, — to the protection it has afforded to a very extensive line of frontier settlements, by stretching our cordon of military posts, through the territories of the most remote and hostile tribes of savages, — and particularly, to the notice it has be- stowed upon one of the humblest cultivators of natu- ral science. HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Ijharlevoix informs us, that the discovery of the Mississippi river, is due to Father Joseph Mar- quette, a Jesuit missionary, who manifested the most unwearied enterprize in exploring the northwestern regions of New France; and after laying the found- ation of Michilimackinac, proceeded, in company with the Sieur Joliet, up the Fox river of Green Bay, and crossing the portage into the Ousconsing, first entered the Mississippi, in 1673. Mons. Robert de la Salle, to whom the merit of this discovery is generally attributed, embarked at Ro- chelle, on his first voyage of discovery, July 14, 1678 — reached Quebec in September following, and pro- ceeding up the St. Lawrence, laid the foundation of Fort Niagara, in the country of the Iroquois, late in the fall of that year. In the following year, he pass- es up the Niagara river — estimates the height of the falls, at six hundred feet — and proceeding through lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Huron, reaches Michili- mackinac, in August. He then visits the Sault de St. Marie, and returning to Michilimackinac, continues his voyage to the south, with a view of striking the Mississippi river — passes into the lake of the Illi- nois—touches at Green Bay — and enters the rir- VI INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. er St. Joseph's, of Lake Michigan, where he builds a fort in the country of the Miamies. In December, of the same year, he crosses the portage between the St. Joseph's and the Illinois — de- scends the latter to the lake ; and builds a fort in the midst of the tribes of the Illinois, which he calls Creveccenr. Here he*makes a stand — sends persons out to explore the Mississippi — traffics with the In- dians, among all of whom he finds abundance of In- dian corn ; and returns to Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, in 1680. He revisits fort Crevecoeur, late is the autumn of the following year; and finally de- scends the Illinois, to its junction with the Mississip- pi, and thence to the embouchure of the latter, in the Gulf of Mexico, where he arrives on the seventh of April, 1683, and calculates the latitude between 23° and 24° north. The Spaniards had previously sought in vain for the mouth of this stream, and be- stowed upon it, in anticipation, the name of Del Rio dscondido. La Salle now returns to Quebec, by the way of the lakes, and from thence to France, where he is well received by the king, who grants him an outfit of four ships and two hundred men, to enable him to continue his discoveries, and found a colony, in the newly discovered territories. He leaves Ro* chelle, in July, 1681 — reaches the bay of St. Louis* which is fifty leagues south of the Mississippi, in the Gulf of Mexico, in February following, where he builds a fort — founds a settlement, and is finally as- sassinated by one of his own party. The exertions of this enterprising individual, and the account which was published of his discoveries by the Chevalier Tonti, who had accompanied him in all his perilous expeditions, had a greater effect, in the French ca- INTRODUCTORY REMARKS,, Vll pital, in producing a correct estimate of the extent, productions, and importance, of the Canadas, than all that had been done by preceding tourists ; and this may be considered as the true era, when the eyes of politicians and divines, merchants and spe- culators, were first strongly turned towards the boundless forests, — the sublime rivers and lakes,— the populous Indian tribes, and the profitable com- merce of New France. Father Louis Hennepin, was a missionary of the Franciscan order of Catholics, who accompanied La Salle on his first voyage from France ; and after the building of fort Crevecoeur, on the Illinois, was des- patched in company with three French voyageurs, to explore the Mississippi river. They departed from fort Crevecceur, on the twenty-ninth of Febru- ary, 1780, and dropping down the Illinois, to its junc- tion with the Mississippi, followed the latter to the Gulf, where they left some memorial of their visit, and immediately commenced their return. When they had proceeded up the Mississippi, a hundred and fifty leagues above the confluence of the Illinois, they were taken prisoners by some Indian tribes, and carried towards its sources, nineteen days' jour- ney, into the territories of the Naudowessies and Issati ; where they were detained in captivity three or four months, and then suffered to return. The account which Hennepin published of his travels and discoveries, served to throw some new light up- on the topography, and the Indian tribes of the Ca- nadas ; and modern geography is indebted to him, for the names which he bestowed upon the falls of St. Anthony, and the river St. Francis. V1H INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. In 1703, the Baron La Honlan published in Lon- don his voyages to North America, the result of a residence of six years in the Canadas. La Hontan served as an officer in the French army, and first went out to Quebec in 1683. During the succeeding four years he was chiefly stationed at Chambly, Fort Frontenac, Niagara, St. Joseph at the foot of Lake Huron, and the Sault de St. Marie. He ar- rives at Michilimackinac in 1688, and there first hears of the assassination of La Salle. In 1689, he vis- its Green Bay, and passes through the Fox and Ous- consing rivers into the Mississippi. So far, his work appears to be the result of actual observation, and is entitled to respect; but what he relates of Long River, appears wholly incredible, and can only be regarded as some flight of the imagination, intend- ed to gratify the public taste for travels, during an age when it had been highly excited by the extra- vagant accounts which had been published respect- ing the wealth, population, and advantages of Peru, Mexico, the English and Dutch colonies, New France, the Illinois, and various other parts of the New World. To convey some idea of this part of the Baron's work, it will be sufficient to observe, that after travelling ten days above the mouth of the Ousconsing, he arrives at the mouth of a large stream which he calls Long River, and which he ascends eighty -four days successively, during which he meets with numerous tribes of savages, as the Eskoros, Essanapes, Pinnokas, Mozemleeks, &c. He is attended a part of the way by five or six hundred savages as an escort — sees at one time, two thousand savages upon the shore — and states the population of the Essanapes. at 20,000 souls j but INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. iX this tribe is still inferior to the Mozemleeks in num- bers, in arts, and in every other prerequisite for a great people. " The Mozemleek nation," he ob- serves, " is numerous and puissant. The iour slaves of that country informed me, that at the distance of 150 leagues from the place where I then was, their principal river empties itself into a salt lake of three hundred leagues in circumference — the mouth of which is about two leagues broad ; that the lower part of that river is adorned with six noble cities, surrounded with stone, cemented with fat earth r that the houses of these cities have no roofs, but are open above like a platform ; that besides the above mentioned cities, there are an hundred towns great and small round that sort of sea ; that the people of that country make stuffs, copper axes, and several other manufactures, &c." In 1721, P. De Charlevoix, the historian of New France, was commissioned by the French Govern- ment, to make a tour of observation through the Canadas; and in addition to his topographical and historical account of New France, published a journal of his voyage through the lakes. He was one of the most learned divines of his age, and al- though strongly tinctured with the doctrines of fa- tality, and disposed to view every thing relative to the Indian tribes with the over-zealous %ye of a Catholic missionary, yet his works bear the impress of a strong and well cultivated mind, and abound in philosophical reflections, enlarged views, and accu- rate deductions ; and notwithstanding the lapse of a century, he must still be regarded as the most polished and illustrious traveller of the region. He X INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. first landed at Quebec in the spring of 1721, and immediately proceeded up the St. Lawrence to Fort Frontenac and Niagara, where he corrects the error in which those who preceded him had fallen, with respect to the height of the cataract. He pro- ceeds through lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan, descends the Illinois and Mississippi to New Or- leans, then recently settled, and embarks for France. The period of his visit, was that, when the Mississippi Scheme was in the height of experiment, and excited the liveliest interest in the French me- tropolis ; people w ere then engaged in Louisiana in exploring every part of the country, under the de- lusive hope of finding rich mines of gold and sil- ver; and the remarks he makes upon the probability of a failure, were shortly justified by the event. In 1760, Alexander Henry, Esq. visited the upper lakes in the character of a trader, and devoted six- teen years in travelling over different parts of the northwestern region of the Canadas and the United States. The result of his observations upon the topography, Indian tribes, and natural history of the country, was first published in 1809, in a volume of travels and adventures, which is a valuable ac- quisition to our means of information. His work abounds in just and sensible reflections, upon scenes, situations, and objects of the most interest- ing kind ; and is written in a style of the most charming perspicuity and simplicity. He was the first English traveller of the region. The date of Carver's travels over those regions, is 1766. Carver was descended from an ancient and INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. XI respectable English family in Connecticut, and had served as a captain in the provincial army Avhich was disbanded after the treaty of peace of Ver- sailles, of 1763; and united to great personal cour- age, a persevering and observing mind. By his bravery and admirable conduct among the powerful tribes of Sioux and Chippeways, he obtained a high standing among them ; and after being consti- tuted a chief by the former, received from them a large grant of land, which was not, however, rati- fied by the British government. The fate of this enterprising traveller, cannot but excite regret. — > After having escaped the massacre of Fort William Henry, on the banks of Lake George, in 17*77, and the perils of a long journey through the American wilderness, he was spared to endure miseries in the heart of the British metropolis, which he had never encountered in the huts of the American savages; and perished for want, in the city of London, the seat of literature and opulence. Between the years 1769 and 1772, Samuel Hearne performed a journey from Prince of Wales's fort in Hudson's bay, to the copper mine river of the arctic ocean. McKenzie's voyages to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, were performed in 1789 and 1793. Pike ascended the Mississippi in 1895, and 1806„ Such is a brief outline of the progress of disco,* very in the northwestern regions of the United States, by which our sources of information have Xll INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. been from time to time augmented, and additional light cast upon the interesting history of our Indian tribes, their numbers, manners, customs, trade, reli- gion, condition with respect to comforts, and other particulars connected with the regions they inhabit. Still it cannot be denied, that amidst much sound and useful information, there has been mingled no incon- siderable proportion, that is deceptive, hypothetical, or false; and upon the whole, that the progress of information has not kept pace with the increased im- portance which that section of the union has latter- ly assumed — with the great improvements of socie- ty — and with the spirit and the enterprize of the times. A new era has dawned in the moral history of our country, and no longer satisfied with mere geographical outlines and boundaries, its physical productions, its antiquities, and the numerous other traits which it presents for scientific research, al- ready attract the attention of a great proportion of the reading community ; and it is eagerly enquired of various sections of it, whose trade, whose agri- culture, and whose population, have been long known, what are its indigenous plants, its zoology, its geology, its mineralogy, fyc. Of no part of it, however, has the paucity of information upon these, and upon other and more familiar subjects, been so great, as of the extreme northwestern regions of the union — of the great chain of lakes — andof the sources of the Mississippi river, which have continued to be the subject of dispute between geographical writers. Impressed with the importance of these facts, Governor Cass, of Michigan, projected, in the fall of 1819, an expedition for exploring the regions in question; and presented a memorial to the Secreta- INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. XI11 ry at War upon the subject, in which he proposed leaving Detroit in the ensuing spring, in two Indian canoes, as being best adapted to the navigation of the shallow waters of the upper country, and to the nu- merous portages which it is necessary to make from stream to stream. The specific objects of this journey, were to ob- tain a more correct knowledge of the names, num- bers, customs, history, condition, mode of subsist- ence, and dispositions of the Indian tribes — to sur- vey the topography of the country, and collect the materials for an accurate map — to locate the site of a garrison at the foot of Lake Superior, and to pur- chase the ground — to investigate the subject of the northwestern copper mines, lead mines, and gypsum quarries, and to purchase from the Indian tribes such tracts as might be necessary to secure to the United States the ultimate advantages to be derived from them, &c. To accomplish these objects, it was proposed to attach to the expedition a topo- graphical engineer, a physician, and a person ac- quainted with mineralogy. Mr. Calhoun, not only approved of the proposed plan, but determined to enable the Governor to car- ry it into complete effect, by ordering an escort of soldiers, and enjoining it upon the commandants of the frontier garrisons, to furnish every aid that the exigencies of the party might require, either in men, boats, or supplies. It is only necessary to add, that I was honoured with the appointment of mineralo- gist to the expedition, in which capacity, I kept the XIV INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. following Journal.* In presenting it to the public, it will not be deemed improper if I acknowledge the obligations which I have incurred in transcribing it, by availing myself of a free access to the valuable Library of His Excellency De Witt Clinton; and of the taste and skill of Mr. Henry Inman, in drawing a number of the views which embellish the work. HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT. Albany, May lith, 1821. * I have received enquiries from several individuals, grounded on the supposition that my Journal would contain all the topo- graphical information, collected on the expedition. It may be proper to observe, that it only embraces my individual observa- tions upon that, and the other subjects brought into view ; and that another work may be expected, containing Professor Douglass' Topographical Report and Map, together with the other Reports,, and the scientific observations of the expedition generally, CONTENTS, CHAP. I.— Preliminary Tour from the City of New-York to Detroit, 17 CHAP. II. — Journey from Detroit to Michilimackinac, ... 66 CHAP. III. — Six Day's residence at Michilimackinac, . . 110 CHAP. IV. — Journey from Michilimackinac to the Sault deSt. Marie, 125 CHAP. V. — Journey from the Sault de St. Marie to the Ontonagon river, 141 CHAP. VI.— Visit to the Copper Mines, 171 CHAP. VII. — Journey from the Ontonagon river to the Fond du Lac, 189 CHAP. VIII. — Journey from the Fond du Lac to Sandy Lake . . 206 CHAP. IX. — Journey from Sandv Lake to the Sources of the Mississippi, 238 CHAP. X. — Journey from Saady Lake to the American Garrison at St. Peter's, ........ 269 CHAP XI.— Journey from St. Peter's to Prairie du Chien, . . 315 CHAP XII.— Visit to the Lead Mines ot Dubuque, , . . 340 CHAP XIII. — Journey from Prairie du Chien to Green Bay, , . 358 CHAP. XIV.— Journey from Green Buy to Chicago, „ . . 378 CHAP XV. — Journey from Chicago to Michilimackinac, . . 388 CHAP. XVI.— Return to Detroit, 408 THE PLATES. Page PLATE I. — The Doric Rock on Lake Superior, (vignette on title page,) Description of this view, 153 PLATE Il.-^Indian Canoe, and Manufactures, , 68 PLATE HI— Sault de St. Marie, 131 PLATE IV —Geological View of Rock Formations on Lake Superior, 153 PLATE V.— Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior, .... 159 PLATE VI. — Copper Rock on the Ontonagon river, . . . 177 PLATE Vn— Falls of St. Anthony, 289 PLATE VIII.— Fungite, 398 Cassina Lake, (on the Map,) Description, .... 251 NARRATIVE JOURNAL OF THROUGH THE NORTHWESTERN REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES. CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY TOUR, FROM THE CITY OP JYETF-TOR'K TO DETROIT. JL he determination of limiting the operations of the expedition to the arctic regions of the United States, and thereby putting it in our power to accomplish, the journey within the current year (1820) ; and the desire of visiting the most remote points on our north- western frontier during the summer season, had ren- dered an early departure an object of the first mo*- ment. But the mode of our conveyance (in Indian canoes) naturally detained us until the breaking up of the ice in the lakes, and it was considered ex- tremely hazardous to undertake the navigation until they were perfectly clear of floating ice. This point being determined, the members of the expedition, were left to exercise their own judgment and con- venience, as to the time and mode of proceeding to the place of embarkation, Detroit. A time not ca- pable of being designated with astronomical preci- sion, but dependant wholly upon the natural distri- bution of atmospheric heat, shewed the necessity of 18 a careful attention to the state of the weather, and the advance of spring. The year commenced with south winds, changing to the southeast, west, and northwest, and attended with light snows.* The Delaware, Susquehanna, and the Hudson, as far as West Point, were frozen hard on the first of January. February gave a week of pleasant weather at the commencement, which was succeeded with high winds from the north, and northeast, and between the tenth and eleventh there was a heavy fail of snow, so that it lay four feet deep in the streets of New- York. This gave good sleighing for two weeks, when a thaw commenced, and the last days of the month were mild and pleasant. March commenced •with unusual mildness, with varying and occasionally blustering wind, but no snow was to be seen on the fourth of that month, and an opinion was entertained, that the Hudson would open a fortnight before its usual period.f Every appearance indicated an early spring, an occurrence which we may, in our * A meteorological register kept during this month in New- York, indicated an average heat of 18° at 7 A. M. 2 8° at 2 P. M. and lG° at 9 P. M. Out of the month, thirteen days were mark- ed '< cloudy," and eighteen " clear." The wind blew south seven days, southeast six days, west five days, north four days, south- west three days, and northwest seven days. Snow fell on the 10th, 17th, 21st, 25th, and 29th. f In the year 1755, noted for the defeat of Gen. Dieskau, at Lake George, the Hudson opened as far as Albany on the 14th day of January, and the following year it was open on the 14lh of February, so that Gov. Fletcher sailed from New York on that day with 300 volunteers, to repel an irruption made by the French upon the Mohawks, and landed at Albany two days afterwards. These are the mildest winters of which any record has been pre- served.— Smith's History of New- York. 19 climate, (latitude 40° to 44°) sometimes expect, and which hy terminating our winter with the month of February, adds three or four weeks to our mildest and most delightful season. Under this impression 3 I left New- York on the Oth of March, in the citizens' post coach for Albany, a mode of conveyance which only exists during the recess of the running of the steam boats ; and which by combining a good de- gree of comfort and convenience, compensates, so far as land stages appear capable of compensating, for the wonderful degree of celerity, comfort, and ease, aiforded by the line of internal steam boat na- vigation, that connects New-York and Albany, nine months in the year.* Passing through Kings- bridge, Phillipsbourg, Tarry town, Sing Sing, and Peckskill, we crossed the Highlands of the Hudson during the evening, and lodged at Fishkill, a post town of Dutchess county, sixty-five miles from New- York. On the 6th, we passed Poughkeepsie, Rhine- beck, and Hudson, and lodged at Kinderhook, and reached Albanyf on the morning of the 7th. The entire distance is one hundred and sixty miles, which * The invention of the steam boat is an event which will long render the year 1S07 conspicuous in the annals of mechanical invention. It was during this year, after a long period spent ia experiments on the application of the steam engine in propelling boats, that success crowned the efforts of Robert Fulton in the con- struction of the first steam boat called the North River, which performed a trip from New York to Albany, carrying a number of passengers to witness the nautical phenomenon of a vessel going at the rate of seven miles against wind and tide. See Colden's Life of Fulton. f By the census of 1820, Albany has a population of 12 3 541, being 1779 more than it had iu 1810. 20 we accomplished in forty hours actual travelling, in- cluding detention at post-offices and taverns, giving an average of four miles per hour. This is about the rate of travelling in the Trekschuits of Holland,* and upon the frozen grounds in Russia, t On our arrival at Greenbush, we found the ice in the Hudson too unstable to admit of crossing upon it, and were passed over in a boat propelled along a path cut through the ice.J There was some snow in the streets of Albany, and a cold wind from the north presaged a check to the advance of spring, which had a few days before, given such flattering proofs of an early development. On the succeed- ing day (the 8th) there arose a hail storm from the northwest, which continued, attended with rain and sleet, during the whole day and succeeding night, and on the morning of the 9th, the hail lay eight inches deep in the streets of the city, and upon the surrounding plains ; and presented the novel spec- * See Hall's Modern Paris, in the Literary and Philosophical Repertory. f Clarke's Travels in Russia. | To travellers, and others, who wish to study the topography of this route, the map of the Hudson between Sandy Hook and San- dy Hill, with the post road between New-York and Albany, recently published by A. T. Goodrich & Co. will prove a valuable docu- ment. In regard to the general geography and statistics of the country, Spafford's Gazetteer of New-York may be advantageously consulted. The history of the discovery of this rive t ' by Henry Hudson, in 1609, will be found in the 2d Vol. of the Collections of the New-York Historical Society. Its geological character is detail- ed in Ackerly's Essay on the Geology of the Hudson river, a work which is accompanied by an excellent geological map ; and i« ■ Eaton's Index to the Geology of the Northern Slates, 2d edition, 21 tacle of good sleighing produced by a fall of hail. — The storm had abated, but not ceased, in the even- ing, when I proceeded in the stage to Schenectady. The route lies by a well constructed turnpike of six- teen miles, across the Pine Plains, a district of san- dy alluvion, bounded by the gravelly soil of Guilder- land and Duanesburgh on the southwest, and by the river alluvions of Niskayuna and Watervliet, on the northeast, and covering an area of about seventy square miles. This tract is included in a triangle formed by the junction of the Mohawk with the Hudson, and of which the Helleberg, a lofty chain of highlands, visible from the plains at the distance of twenty miles, forms the southwestern boundary. Situated near the centre of a state, computed at 40,000 square miles, and containing a population of 1 ,200,000 souls,* this tract presents the topographical novelty of an unre- claimed desert, in the heart of one of the oldest coun- ties in the state, and in the midst of a people char- acterized for enterprise and public spirit. Several attempts have lately been made to bring this tract into cultivation, and from the success which has at- tended the introduction of gypsum, and other im* proved modes of agriculture, it is probable the whole will, at some future period, be devoted to the cultiva- tion of the various species of grasses, fruit trees, and esculent roots ; three branches of agriculture to which its sandy soil seems admirably adapted. It is certainly an object worthy the attention of those so- cieties whose efforts to improve the systems of crop- ping, to facilitate the progress of farming by the intro- * This is an estimate warranted by partial returns of the census now taking. The population of New York in 18 10, was 959j220. Spafford's Gazetteer. 22 duction of labour-saving implements and machines, and to emulate agricultural industry by the annual distribution of premiums, are already manifest in the improved state of farms, orchards, and breeds of do- mestic animals. After travelling fifteen miles through the Pine I lai:;s, which present a succession of the most uninteresting views, the eye is relieved on emer- ging, somewhat abruptly, from the forest of pines, on entering the city of Schenectady, — a town which is characterized as the site of an Indian massacre in 1690, — the seat of the foundation of a College in 1791,* the residence of a population of 5,909 inhab- itants in 1810, and the victim of one of the most ter- rible conflagrations in the fall of 1 8 1 9.f As we enter- ed the town, the snow, which had imperceptibly suc- ceeded to the hail and sleet of the morning, entirely ceased, and was followed by a night of severe cold. The preceding day (the ]Cth,) I took the stage which left Albany at four in the morning, and reach- ed Utica at seven in the evening, being a distance of ninely-six miles in seventeen hours. The road lies up the valley of the Mohawk, and the towns succes- sive !y passed, are ISew Amsterdam, Caughnawaga, Palatine, Little Fails, and Herkimer. There is little *See Smith's History of New- York, p. 115. f " On the morning of the 17th insl.(Nov. 181 9) at 4 o'clock, a most awful conflagration commenced its ravages in the city of Schenec- tady, and continued with unremitted violence, until ahout 11 o'clock in the forenoon. It broke out in a Currier's shop in Water- street, near the store of John Moyston, and destroyed ahout 100 stores and dwelling houses in Slat<>, Church, Union, Washington, and Front Streets. It was' by the most extraordinary exertions only, that the bridge over the Mohawk was saved, having been on fire at every pier." — Plough Boy, Vol. I. p. 199. 23 either in the taste of buildings, condition of inhabi- tants, or state of improvements, to elicit description. A valley celebrated for the fertility of its soil, now covered with snow and chilled with a driving wind from the north, presented a scene of polar inclemen- cy, and could not be distinguished from plains of ir- reclaimable sterility. The season was equally unfa- vourable for observing the physical productions and constitution of the country, or the labour that has been bestowed in rendering them subservient to the wants and the convenience of life. But the sites of towns, the banks of rivers, plains, or mountains, which have once witnessed the effects of human industry, whether in war or in peace, while they experience the most striking physical revolutions, preserve a moral character, which no change can obliterate; and we cannot pass through the country formerly possessed by the Mohawks, without recurring to the savage cruelties and murders, the battles, and the am- buscades, of which it was so long the conspicuous theatre. This powerful and warlike tribe was one of the principal members of the Iroquois confederacy, so long the terror and the glory of the North Ameri- can Indians. The other members of it, were the Onei- das, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Senecas, and the Tuscaroras.* They inhabited the country, when first visited by Europeans, from the Highlands of the Hudson to the banks of the Niagara, and they had either pushed their conquests, or carried the terror * The Tuscaroras did not originally belong to the confederacy ? but inhabited the back parts of North Carolina, where having form- ed a conspiracy to destroy all the whites, they were defeated and driven away in 1712, and were subsequently received and adopted by the Iroquois. — Smith's History of New-York, 21 of their arms, from the island of Montreal to the banks of the Mississippi. The league was formed before their acquaintance with Europeans, and it is the only instance to be found in the history of the aborigi- nes, of a permanent union for the general welfare and defence. There are two other instances of a temporary confederation of tribes, instituted through the energy of two chiefs, of similar character, at dis- tant periods, — that of Pontiac, against the English) and that of Tecumseh, against the Americans. But these, although powerful, were temporary confedera- cies, and dissolved with the fall of the respective chiefs with whom they had originated. The Iro- quois, on the contrary, had not united for any speci- fic, but for general purposes ; their compact was of immemorial standing, and is never known to have been broken, in a single instance. United by the ties of blood, speaking dialects of one language, in- habiting the same country and climate, and acting in one cause, they had acquired a national pride, and a national character ; and when we reflect upon the advances they had made in the art of government, and the sound maxims of policy by which they were uni- formly actuated, we cannot suppress the wish that the period of the discovery of the new world had been deferred a century longer, that we might have view- ed the Northern Indian in a state of civilization, which it is not now probable we shall ever behold.* The ef- * For an account of the numbers, government, exploits, and cus- toms of the Iroquois, see Gov. Clinton's Discourse before the New. York Historical Society, 2d vol. of their Collections. Colden's His- tory of the Five Nations. La Hontan's Voyages to Canada. — Journal of a voyage to North America, by Charlevoix. Smith's His- tory of New- York. 25 feet we cannot doubt, would have been auspicious to the cause of the Indians, and gratifying to the friends of philanthropy.* Of this confederacy, which furnishes the strongestevidence of the intellectual vigour of the aborigines, and which has been entirely forgotten, as a confederacy, among the local names of the country which they once occupied, and still, in limi- ted tracts, possess ; the Mohawks were the most bloody, the most artful, the bravest, and the most powerful. They occupied the very extensive dis- trict of alluvial lands from Scaghticoke on the Hoo- sick river, to the banks of the Oriskany, in Oneida, and had such weight in the confederacy that it was sometimes even denominated by their name.f From the time of my departure fromNew-York, the weather had gradually assumed a character of such severity, as to forbid the expectation of a speedy opening of the northern lakes, and left me at liberty to proceed with more leisure ; a circumstance of which 1 availed myself by spending several days at Utica, and the villages adjacent. Standing at the head of the Mohawk, and at the intersection of the most important roads from the north and the west part of the state. Utica unites extraordinary advan- tages, as a point for the sale and exchange of the products of agriculture and domestic manufactures. It is the emporium of one of the most extensive and fertile districts of farming lands in the state, and the advantages of geographical position, will be still fur- ther augmented by the Erie canal, which is to pass * Smith's History of New-York, p. 73. t Governor Clinton's Discourse before the New-York Historical Society, 2d vol. of their Collections, p. 49. 4 2G through the centre of the town.* This village lies in north latitude 13° 6' and occupies the ancient site of .Fort Schuyler ; a name that recalls the mem- ory of a soldier and a patriot of the revolution^ It was first incorporated in 1793, under the name' of the village of Fori Schuyler. In 1 80. r >, this act was repeal- ed, and a new one passed conferring additional privi- leges^ and its Asiatic name. In 1810, it contained a population of 1700 inhabitants, and consisted of 300 dwelling houses and stores, exclusive of churches and other public buildings. Its subsequent increase has been very rapid ; and the style of architecture and general appearance of the town, indicate the taste and the public spirit which prevails. Fifteen miles * Since that period, the canal has been finished from Utica to Seneca river, a distance of ninety-six miles, and the perma- nency of the works, the number of boats l-aded with the pro- duce of the country, which have constantly covered it, and other circumstances have been such as to realize the most sanguine ex- pectations of the friends and projectors of that great work. f My New- York readers will undoubtedly excuse me for present- ing the following; just and feeling tribute to the talents and patriot- ism of the late Gen. Schuyler, from the pen of a contemporary soldier and patriot, Col. Troup, of Geneva. " I should outrage every feeling of my nature.were I to lay down my pen without paying, in the warmest language of the heart, the homage of my unfeigned gratitude to the memory of General Schuyler, for the patriotism which led him to devote to the Lake Canal Policy, that ardent zeal, and those extraordinary talents which marked his glorious career in our revolutionary contest ; a career that justly entitles him to be ranked in the number of the il ustriotts founders of our republic. And, I hope to be pardoned for subjoining, that whenever imagination places this very distin- guished man before me, I soon become confounded with shame for the extreme neglect— I will not call it ingratitude, with which the state has treated his venerable name." Vindication of the Lake Canal Polky, 27 northwest of Utica, lies the site of Fort Stanwix* (now occupied by the village of Rome) the scene of one of the struggles of our revolutionary contest. This fort was first built about the year 1758, by the British, but falling into decay, was repaired and en- larged in 1776, and in the following year sustained, under the command of the la*e Major General Ganse- voort, a siege of twenty-two days, from a combined force of British and Indians, under the command of Col. St. Ledger. It was in marching to the relief of this post, that the unfortunate Gen. Herkimer, falling into an Indian ambuscade on the banks of the Oris- kany, lost his life, and the greatest part of his army. With the retreat of St. Ledger, (who, after a sortie from the garrison, led by Col. Marinus Willett, in which four stands of colours were captured,* was compelled to raise the siege) departed, the Mohawk Indians, then in alliance with the British, and they have never since appeared, as a nation, within our precincts. On the 10th of April, I took the stage which left Utica at two in the morning, and passing through Vernon, Manlius, and Onondaga, lodged at Skene- atelas, a neat and airy village on the banks of one of those beautiful and transparent little lakes which cast such a charm over the scenery of western New- York. * I do not find this sally of the besieged garrison recordtd in any history, and it is here mentioned on the authority of a p* rson (Col. Lawrence Schoolcraft, the father of the writer) who was pre- sent upon that occasion. This action is also characterized as afford- ing one of thp proofs of whiih the events of that war afforded ma- ny, < f the triumph of militia, and raw recruits, acting under a strong sense of political oppression, and an fnthusiastic love of liberty, over well disciplined and veteran troops, who were that day driven at the point of the bayonet. 28 On the eleventh, we passed Auburn* at an ear- ly hour, and crossing Cayuga lake by a wooden bridge of a mile in length, reached Geneva at one o'clock in the afternoon. The entire distance is nine- ty-six miles. The route lies across the important agricultural counties of Oneida, Sullivan, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and a part of Ontario, a part of the extensive country formerly occupied by the Iroquois, "whose great council fire was fixed at Onondaga,* where a part of that tribe still remain, ft is the scene of the opcrntions of Gen. Sullivan's army in the summer of 1779, when the Iroquois tribes paid the price of their constancy to the British, in the de- struction of their villages, the slaughter and expulsion of a great part of their population, and the total an- nihilation of their power as a confederacy and a peo- ple. There is no account of a general council held by them after the operations of this year, and the seat of their council fire, which is always sacred and im- * The increase of this village, within the last ten years, is surprising, and may be cited from an hundred other instances, to convey an idea of the growth, population, aid improvements of the western parts of New- York. In 1S10, Spafford stat* s it to consist of 100 houses and stores, mostly built within the last 6 years. The census of IS 20 gives the following result — Auburn paper. Private Buildings. FuMie Buildings. Manufactures. Inhabitants. gS-g-Sfgas is™ g"J"I?3!*5i= 3" % 1 g ^^-r'lO.i,) iJi:^.-;^ 2 « =." • ** sc _"">c^**3i>- L <— &.*^ "-*? — ' :?• *z ** w C -d £r «*"■ '-•"" 5" « = »• •=* * &* srS Z V s " re itss, ego g-a a; » - 2 2. 5' S • » - - S JC ?3 S-S-c-- 2 Si? f Smith's History of New-York, p. G8. 29 moveable among Indian tribes, had fallen into the hands of their enemies. After this defeat, a great proportion of the tribes fled to Canada, and of two entire tribes, the Cayugas and the Mohawks, there is not an individual left. What remains of the tribes which were not then expelled, or have since expatri- ated themselves, is to be seen in the villages of the Oneidas and Onondagas, and such of tSie Senecas and Tuscaroras, as are located near Buffalo.* A county that was then the theatre of a frontier war, and the inheritance of a povvertul nation of semi-barbarians, is now smiling under the hand of agriculture, and checquered with towns, and villages, roads and ca- nals, the seats of learning, and the temples of religion. Perhaps no country presents so remarkahle an in- stance of the progress of human settlements,achieved in so short a period of time.f A lapse of forty years *The Stoekbridge Indians settled on the Oneida reservation, are not of the race of the Iroquois. They migrated from the banks of the Hudson in 1734 to Stoekbridge, in Massachusetts, and from thence about the year 1785 removed to the spot they now occupy. The Brothortown Indians are descendants of the Muhhek now who formerly inhabited the country about Narra^anset, in Rhode- Island Clinton's Discourse before the Historical Society of New- York, p- 43, 2d vol. Collections of that Society. t Increase of Population. — In the year 1790, the then county of Ontario, according to the census then taken, contained hut 205 families, and 108 inhabitants. " In the same territory, (says the Canandaigud Repository, J in the year 1800 (except the county of Steuben, which was setoff in 1796; the population was 12 584» The county of Genesee was erected in 1806, and the con .ties of Niagara, Chautauque, and Cataragus 1808 ; leaving for the county of Ontario, its present territory. In (810, this county contained 42,032 ; ii. 1814, it contained 57,630 : and lhe census now taking is expected to show about 90,000. Genesee and Niagara have in- 30 has already rendered it difficult to distinguish be- tween those tumuli, ancient fortifications, and other antiquities which owe their origin to an anterior race of inhabitants, and those marks of occupation left by the Iroquois, or attributable to the French. On passing through Oneida county on the iOth of April, there was still some snow to be seen in situa- tions shaded by the buildings or fences, but it had entirely disappeared in the roads, and in the open fields. The roads continued muddy to Onondaga East Hill; on the West Hill, the) were dry, and so continued with partial exceptions, to Geneva, where the clouds of dust by which we a ere enveloped, and the appearances of vegetation, indicated the benign climate which pervades the luxuriant country of the Genesee. Every appearance indicated a season ten days more advanced than the valley of the Mohawk, which is only separated by the distance of a hundred miles. The wild poplar put forth leaves on the 18th, the house popular (populus dilatata) on the 2;*d, apricots were in blossom on the 22d. The ther- mometer observed at one o'clock, P. M. varied, be- tween the 1 1th and 28th, from 60°, to 78°, of Fahren- heit, during which period the weather was clear, mild, and pleasant, with the exception of a fall ol rain on the 26th and 27th. The village of Geneva, occu- pying a beautiful eminence at the head of Seneca Lake, and surrounded by a district of country, under creased nearly in the same proportion. The census in the several counties, for 1820, is not yet completed ; but the total population in the territory, which, only thirty years since, contained hut ten 7>" vdred and eighty one souls, doubtless exceeds two huisdrkd thousand ! ! — We doubt whether a |> rallel can he found, in the rise and progress of any country in any age." — N. Y. Statesman. 31 a high state of cultivation and improvement, pre- sents a most picturesque appearance, on approach- ing it in a clear day from the east; and the display of the town, so highly favoured by local advantages, at the distance of a mile, creates an idea of wealth, taste, and business, which is not disappointed on be- holding it the centre of a populous agricultural dis- trict, the mart of its produce and the theatre of its exchange, where the intersection of several import- ant roads, and a branch of the Erie Canal, facilitate a ready intercourse with all parts of the state. A person of information who has had opportunities of occular comparison, is disposed to consider the na- tural advantages of this village and vicinity, as a place susceptible of rural embellishments, superior to that of the celebrated city of Switzerland, in allu- sion to which it has been named. On the £8th of April, 1 left Geneva, and passing through Canandaigua, Bloomfield, and Lima, lodged at Avon, upon the banks of Genesee river. On the following day we passed through Caledonia, Le Roy, Batavia, Pembroke, and Clarence, and arrived at Buffalo in the evening, a distance of 210 miles from Utica. This route lies across the populous coun- ties of Ontario, Genesee, and Niagara, colloquially known under the name of the Genesee country, and proverbial for the fertility of its soil.* We found * At the annual fair and cattle show in Ontario county, in the fall of 1819, premiums were awarded on the following articles, viz : Best winter wheat, 80 bushels 12 qts. on the acre. Barley, 34 bushels on the acre. Peas, 32 bushels 4 qts. on the acre. — Canandaigua Paper. In Onondaga county at the agricultural fair of the same season, premiums were awarded on, 32 the peach, and the earlier varieties of apple tree, every where in blossom, and the beech ( fagus ferntk ginea,) the wild poplar, or the American Aspen, and some other species of the early sprouting forest trees, already gave the forest a vernal aspect. 1 hese ap- pearances continued until within eight or ten miles of Buffalo, where the influence of the lake winds, and the bodies of unmelted ice in the lakes, have a sensible effect upon the progress of vegetation, which appears to be retarded eight or ten days later on account of this exposure. The peach tree had there budded, but not yet blown. We found the lake still covered with floating ice, and no vessel had. The best Winter Wheat, 37 bushels 14lbs. to the acre. do. do. do. do. 12 qts. do. Onondaga paper. In Oneida County, at the annual fair and cattle show, of the same season, the following articles received premiums: Winter Wheat, Reuben Gridley, of Paris, two acres 72 bushels per acre. Spring Wheat, Jona. WhVox, Paris, 44 bushels per a> re. Indian Com. Samuel Cary, Deerfield. 1 19 bushels per acre. Barley, R South worth, Paris 56 bushels 28 quarts per acre. Oats, Jf<\. Sanger, Whitestown. 84£ per. acre. Feas, D. Barton. Paris, 52 bushels, per acre. Potatoes. A. Bartlett. Paris. 505 bushels per acre. Butter. D. Barton, Paris, had already made 3/07 pounds from 2i cows — Plough B<>y and Journal of the Board of Agriculture by S. South wick, Vol. 1. But the greatest product of Indian corn raised during this sea- son, and perhaps the greatest ever known, was by Mr Jedediah Dusenbury of Portland, Chautauque county, which was 132 bush- els 12 quarts from an acre. — l J lough Boy } Vol. I. p. 199 Spring 23 33 Barley 41 17 Flax, S50 lbs. Oats, 54 11 Corn, 121 12 33 attempted the navigation. The steam boat had ad- vertised to start on her first trip, on the first of May, but the backward state of the weather, and the ice in the lake, had induced the captain to defer it until the 6th, leaving me a week to visit the Palls of Ni- agara, and the battle grounds on the north banks of the Niagara. The town of Buffalo contained a hundred houses* besides the county buildings, in 1810.* On the 30th of December, 18|3, it was burnt by a party of Bri- tish troops and Indians, who laid waste this frontier. It has since been rebuilt with increased eleo-anee, and is now a town of about 200 buildings, a pro- portion of which are of brick. It occupies an em- inence, which was recommended to the French 2:0- vernment, as a commanding site for a garrison, by the Baron La Hontan, in 16i>3, and marked Fort Suppose, upon his map.f The first vessel which navi- gated Lake Erie, was built in this vicinity by La Sal- le, in 1679, being a vessel of sixty tons burden.J A part of the tribe of the Seneca Indians, about 700 souls, are located in this vicinity. The vithio-e of Black Rock, the residence of Gen. Peter B. Porter, is situated two miles below, at a spot which is sup- posed to unite superior advantages, as a place of trade, and a harbour for vessels. On the first of May, I visited the celebrated Falls ©f Niagara,§ situated 22 miles below. Keeping the * Spafford. f La Honlan's New Voyages to Canada, p. 187, vol. 1. J Smith's History of New- York, p. 80. § This is an Iroquois word said to signify the thunder of waters, end the word as still pronounced by the Senecas is O-ni-aa-gurah, 5 34 American shore, the road lies over an alluvial coun- try, elevated from ten to twenty feet above the water of the river, without a hill, or a ledge of rocks, and with scarce an undulation of surface, to indicate the existence, or prepare the eye for the stupenduous prospect which bursts, somewhat unexpectedly, into view. The day was clear and warm, with a light breeze blowing down the river. We stopped fre- quently on our approach to listen for the sound of the Foil, but at the distances of fifteen, ten, eight, and even five miles, could not distinguish any, even by laying the ear to the ground. It was not until within three miles of the precipice, where the road runs close to the edge of the river, and brings the ra- pids in full view, that we could distinctly hear the sound, which then, owing to a change of the wind, fell so heavy upon the ear, that in proceeding a short distance, it was difficult to maintain a conversation, as we rode along On i eaching the Falls, nothing struck me with more surprise, than that the Baron La Hon- tan, who visited it in August, 1688, should have fal- len into so egregious a mistake, as to the height of the perpendicular pitch, which he represents at seven or eight hundred feet* Nor does the narrator of the discoveries of the unfortunate La Salle, Monsieur Tonti, approach much nearer to the truth, when he states it at six hundred feet.f Charlevoix, whose work being; strongl* accentuated on the third syllable, while the interjec- tion O, is so feebly uttered, that without a nice attention, it may escape notice. * La Honfan's Voyages, vol. I p. 82. t An Account of the last Expedition and Discoveries of Mon- sieur De La Salle.— Collections of t lie New-York Historical Society. Vol. II. p.z28. 35 is characterized by more accuracy, learning, and re- search, than those who had preceded him, and who saw the Falls in 1721, makes, on the contrary, an es- timate which is surprising for the degree of accuracy he has attained. " For my own part," he says, " af- ter examining it on all sides, where it could be view- ed to the greatest advantage, I am inclined to think we cannot allow it less than a hundred and forty or fifty feet."* The latter, (one hundred and fifty) is precisely what the Fall on the Canadian side, is now estimated at. There is a rapid of two miles in ex- tent above, and another of seven miles, extending to Lewiston, below the Falls. The breadth across, at the brink of the Fall, which is serrated and irregular, is estimated at four thousand two hundred and thirty feet, or a little more than three-fourths of a mile. The Fall on the American shore is one hunderd and sixty-four feet, being the highest known perpendi- cular pitch of so great a volume of water.f The fall of the rapid above, commencing at Chippewa, is estimated at ninety feet, and the entire fall of Niaga- ra river from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, a distance of thirty-five miles, at three hundred feet. Goat Island, which divides the water into two unequal sheets, has recently been called /m,(in allusion to the perpetual rain bows by which it is characterized^ by * Charlevoix's Journal of a Voyage to North America, vol !• p. 353. t It is in the volume of falling water only., lhat Niagara claims a pre-eminence. There are many higher falls in various parts of South America and Europe. The greatest water fall in Europe, is on the river Lattin, in Lapland, which is half a mile wide, and has a perpendicular pitch of 400 feet. 36 the commissioners for settling the boundaries of the United States, acting under the treaty of Ghent In approaching this cataract from Lewiston, the elevat- ed and rocky description of country it is necessary to cross, together with the increased distance at which the roar is heard in that direction, must serve to prepare the mind for encountering a scene which there is nothing to indicate on approaching from Buf- falo ; and this impression unquestionably continues to exercise an effect upon the beholder, after his ar- rival at the falls The first European visitors be- held it under this influence. Following the path of the Couriers de Bois, they proceeded from Montreal up the St Lawrence, to FortCaderacqui, and around the shores of Lake Ontario, to the alluvial tract which stretches from the mouth of Niagara river, to the site of f ievviston. Here the Ridge, emphatically so cal- led, commences, and the number of elevations which it is necessary to ascend in crossing it, may, without a proper consideration of the intermediate descents, have led those who formerly approached that way into error, such as La Hontan, and Tonti fell into. They must have been deprived also of the advanta- ges of the view from the gulph at the foot of the Falls, for we are not prepared to admit the possibility of a descent without artificial stairs, or other analogous labourious and dangerous works, such, as at that re- mote period, must have been looked upon as a stu- pendous undertaking ; and could not, indeed, have been accomplished, surrounded as the French then were, by their enemies, the jealous and ever watchful Iroquois. The descent at the present period, with every advantage arising from the labours of mechan- ical ingenuity, cannot be performed without feeling 37 some degree of personal solicitude. It is in this chasm that the sound of the water, falls heaviest u;.on the ear, and that the mind becomes fully impressed, with the appalling majesty of trie Fall Other vi< from the banks on both sides of the river, and from the Island of Iris, in its centre, are more beautiful and picturesque; bat it is here that the tremulous motion of the earth, the clouds of irridescent spray, the broken column of fall! ter, the stunning sound, the lofty banks of the river, and the wide spread- ing ruin of rocks, imprint a character of wonder and terror opon the scene, which do other r of view is capable of prodacj ator, who, on alighting at Niagara, walks : istilv to the brink, feels his attention imperceptibly rivited to the novel and striking phenomenon before him, at this moment, is apt either to over-rate or to under- ratethe magnitude of the Fall. It is not easy to erect a standard of comparison ; and the view requires to -tudied in order to attain a just conception and ap- preciation of its grandeur an l its beauties. The ear is at first stunned by the incessant roar, and the eye bewildered in the general view. Inproportiona-these become familiarized, we seize upon the individual fea- tures of the landscape, and are enabled to distinguish between the gay and the sombre, the bold and the picturesque, the harsh and the mellow traits, which, like the deep contrasted shade- eAigb wrought picture, contribute to n\vf> effect to ne. It was so:: bfforp i could satisfy nv the ac- curacy ofthe accredited measurements of the height of the Fall, and not nntil after : had made repeated visits, arid spent a eo in the al below. There appears a great disproportion be- 38 tween the height and the width of the falling sheet, but the longer I remained, the more magnificent it appeared to me ; and hence it is, that with some- thing like a feeling of disappointment, on my first arrival, I left the Falls, after a visit of two days, with an impression of the scene, which every thing I had previously read, had failed to create. At the time of my visit, the wind drove the floating ice out of Lake Erie, with the drift wood of its tributary rivers, and these were constantly precipitated over the Falls, but we were not able to discover any vestiges of them in the eddies below. Immediately in front of the sheet of falling water on the American side, there was also an enormous bank of snow, of nearly an hundred feet in height, which the power of the sun had not yet been fierce enough to dissolve, and which, by giving an Icelandic character to the land- scape, produced a fine effect. It appeared to me to owe its accumulation, to the falling particles of froz- en spray. What has been said by Goldsmith, and repeated by others, respecting the destructive influence of the rapids above, to ducks and other water fowl, is only an effect of the imagination. So far from being the case, the wild duck, is often seen to swim down the rapid to the brink of the Falls, and then fly out, and repeat the descent, seeming to take a delight, in the exercise. Neither are small land-birds affected on flying over the Falls, in the manner that has been sta- ted. I observed the blue bird and the wren, which had already made (heir annual visit to the banks of the Niagara, frequently fly within one or two feet of the brink, apparently delighted with the gift of their wings, which enabled them to sport over such fright- 39 ful precipices, without danger. We are, certainly, not well pleased to find, that some of the wonderful stones, we have read of the Falls, during boyhood, do not turn out to be the truth ; but, at the same time, a little attention is only necessary to discover, that many interesting facts and particulars, remain unnoticed, which fully compensate for others, that have been overstrained or misstated. Among these, the crystalline appearances, disclosed among the prostrate ruins, and the geological character of the Fall itself, are not the least interesting. The scenes where nature has experienced her greatest convulsions, are always the most favourable for acquiring a knowledge of the internal structure of the earth. The peaks of the highest mountains, and the depths of the lowest ravines, present the greatest attractions to the geologist. Hence this cataract, which has worn its way for a number of miles, and to a very great depth, through the stony crust of the earth, is no less interesting for the geo- logical facts it discloses, than for the magnificence of its natural scenery. The chain of highlands, called the Ridge* originates in Upper-Canada, and running parallel with the south shore of Lake Onta- rio, forms a natural terrace, which pervades the wes- tern counties of New- York, from north to south, af- fording, by its unbroken chain, and the horizontal position ot its strata, the advantages of a natural road, and terminates in an unexplored part of the county of Oswego, or thereabout. It is in crossing this ridge, that the Falls of the Niagara, of the Gene- see, and of the Oswego rivers, all running into Lake Ontario, are produced ; together with those of an infinite number of smaller streams and brooks. — 4G Through this, the Niagara has cut its way for a dis- tance of seven miles, and to a depth of more than two hundred feet, disclosing the number, order of Stratification, and mineral character, of the different strata of secondary rocks, of which it is composed. These are, beginning at the lowest visible point, red sand stone, fragile slate, and fetid limestone, the lat- ter occupying the surface, and imbedding crystals of calcareous spar,* and foliated gypsum. t How far these formations, in the order in which they are here seen, continue towards the south, and extend la- terally towards the east and the west, the want of more extensive observations, prevents us from deter- mining. A similar formation exists at Genesee Falls, and the sand stone stratum, continues unbroken to Oswego, where it is quarried for the purposes of building.t It is probable, that the slate rock, vari- ously modified, and combined, extends throughout the Genesee country, as it is found on the banks of the Seneca Lake, — the Cashong, Flint, and Allen's Creeks, — in the towns of Le Roy, and Clarence in digging wells, — on the banks of Lake Erie, at Ham- * Ka.k spath. Werner. Common spar. Kirwan. Calc spar. Jamison. Chaux carbonaiee pure spalhique. Drongnairl. Cleave land. t Selenite. Cleaveland. Frauencis. Werner. | The sand stone of Oswego, has been employed with some success, foe the hearths, and lining of glass and iron founderies, wher.: the intense degree of heat emp ; t yed, renders the discovery of the most refractory rocks, an object of constant solicitude. In- telligent manufacturers will see the important application o! geo- logical science, in tracing the formations of rocks, upon which they are any wise dependant, into the vicinity of their manufacto- ries. 41 burgh,— on Mud Crock, near Canandaigua — on the outlet of Honey oye, and Caneseus Lakes, and on the Conostaga fork of the Genesee.* At the three lat- ter places, it is so highly charged with bitumen, as to be capable of supporting combustion. The inflam- mable gas of the burning springs of Ontario, and the fountain of petroleum of Cattaraugus county, afford additional evidence of the existence of carbon and bitumen in the shistose rocks of the Genesee, and. render it probable, that mineral coal, the dis- covery of which, has become so great a desidera- tum, will reward the future researches of the geolo- gist, and the miner in this region. The secondary character of the Genesee slate, is particularly appa- rent upon the bat ks of the Cashong creek, in Onta- rio county, where it imbeds various species of concho- litcs and erismatolites, together with globular masses of granular limestone. Along the southern borders of Seneca lake, it contains numerous impressions of univalve shplls, and mollusca. The surface rock of this, region, (limestone) which is fetid at Niagara, either does not preserve a uni- form character, or is succeeded by local formations of calcareous carbonats, of various character and extent. Thus, it is compact shelly (forming a shell marble,) at Wolcott, in Seneca county, and at Bath, in Steuben county; while the greater part of Onta- rio, Aliegany, Chautauque, and Genesee, is charac- * For several of these localities, I am indebted to the observa- tions of Mr. C K Gu rnsey, of Lima, a gentleman whose habits of observation, during; occasional excursions through hat county, has led him to notice many of those mineral coinc d< nces and appear- ances; from which the geologist is enabled to draw the niosi impor- tant' conclusions. 6 42 terized by an earthy, dull grey, compact limestone, which gives out no odour in breaking, contains shells, sparingly imbedded, and burns to a good quicklime. It is in this formation, that the gypsum beds of Caledonia, Vienna, and Waterloo, are situ- ated ; and which, also, appears in the vicinity of the sulphur springs, in Farmington,* and the beds of lenticular oxyd of iron,t in Palmyra, Williamson, * For an account of these springs, see a Memoir, by J. H. Redfield, in the 2d vol of the Literary and Philosophical Reper- tory. Aiso, Dr. Mitchill's Descriptive Catalogue of Minerals, vol. I. p. 3. Bruce's M in era logical Journal. f During the session of the legislature of New York, in (he win- ter of 1S20, a loan of $10,000, was made to A. Cole, and asso- ciates, to enable them to commence the manu acture of bar iron, from these beds of ore; and it is understood, that works are row in operation, at which a very malleable iron is manufactured. According to an analysis o\ this --re, by Professor Eaton, of Bur- lington College, (see Eaton's Geolog.y, p. 266,) it yields thirty per centum of metallic iron, and the ore contains pefrefied voluii- Us, small and well characterized. I am indebted to Mr. Andrew M'Nab, of Geneva, for the following interesting account, of the locality of this mineral, accompanied by specimens of the ore. " MEMORANDUM. u Lenticular Argillaceous oxyd of Iron. " TWO VARIETIES. < f VAR. 1st. — A bright red, inclining to purple. — Is found in the towns of Ontario, Williamson, Penfield, and Sodus, in Ontario county. The small rod of iron, accompanying it, was wrought from this ore, at forges erected, and now in operation, in the town of Ontario. The ore is found in great abundance, (quantity sup- posed to be inexhaustible) in a strip of country, about a mile in width, and midway between the Ridge (Niagara) Road, and the south shore of Lake Ontario, which are about an average of four miles apart, and nearly parallel with each other. The ore is found, generally, at the depth of three to five feet below the sur- face, and appears to extend downwards a considerable depth— 43 and Wolcott, in Ontario county. In the town of Caledonia it serves as the basis, to several varie- ties of madrepores, and corrallines, found in a state of petrefaction, and in the oak openings of Niagara county, it incloses nodules of hornstone.* This hornstone, is also found among the debris, of the Falls of Niagara, accompanied by radiated quartz, rhomboidal crystals of carbonate of lime, foliated and snowy gypsum, and slight traces of the sul- phuret of zinct These rocks, (sandstone, slate, and limestone) perhaps 10 to 15 feet, growing better as it descends. The upper, soil, is a reddish sandy loam — then a species of greenish clay, resting upon the ore. The '.re is sometimes wrapt up in insolated roundish masses — sometimes in extended beds, similar to gypsum beds or quarries. " Vak. 2d. — A dark red. inclining to brown.— Is found in the town of Wolcott, Seneca county, on the inlet of P^rt Bay, at the same distance from Lake Ontario, and lying: in the same direction, as the above first mentioned kind. The soil, &c. are similar. The spe- cimen herewith delivered, was taken from the surface of the ore bed, which lies naked at the bottom of the stream The water has, probably, produced the difference in colour, whi^h exists between this and the first kind. It is believed, that there is a continuation of the stratum in Ontario, extending east under So- dus Bay. A mile or two south of the ore, up stream, there is a perpendicular fall of 40 feet, over a bluish slaty rock ; slid fur- ther south, the bed of the inlet, is a smooth rock, apparently lime- stone, of secondary formation, until the creek crosses the summit level, (a perfect bog) north of Cress lake, in Galen." — Extract from a Com. by A. M'Nab, Esq. I8th Oct. 1820. * Considered as Flint, by Dr. Mit hill, in his Descriptive Cata- logue. See Bruce's Mineralogical Journal. Also, Cleaveland's Mineralogy. t Blende. Black-jack. Pseudo-galena. 44 however their properties may be found modified, by future discoveries, will probably be found, with a proper allowance lor local formations, and distur- bances, to pervade all that section of country, which lies between the Niagara and Seneca rivers. — between Lakes Ontario and Seneca, — and between the Alle- ga.y river and the south shore of Lake Erie, as gene- ral boundaries. All this section of country, appears to be underlayed by a stratum of red ^an ! stone, such as appears at the Genesee Falls, but which is im- bedded at various depths, as the country happens to be elevated above, or depressed below the level of the Niagara stratum, in which no inclination, is visible.* No order of stratification, could have been affected by nature, which would have afforded greater facilities, to the wasting effects of falling wa- ter, so visible at these Falls. The slate which sepa- rates the calcareous from the sand store rock, by a stratum of nearly forty feet in thickness, is continual- ly fretting away, and undermining the superincum- bent stratum of limestone, which is thus precipitated * I find those observations, on the fioeta rooks cf the Genesee country, corroborated by tHose of an accurate observer of geolo- gical appearances Sanme! M. Hopkins, Esq of Genesee, who, in Lis Address, before the Agricultural Society <>!' that county, (1819) and in allusion to he horizontal position of the rock strata, says: '• This is not the oily circumstance, i" the geolojry of this coun- try, which, according to the imperfei t notions of the writer, is very remarkable. Not only does the whole level country, seem to have been once covered by lakes, but the deep chasms, which are formed by the Niagara, and other falls, disclose facts which wpuld seem n< prove, that the whole sub-stratum, for several hun- dred feet beneath those former lakes, has undergone successive changes, by ihe action of water. These appearances, would wel! repay the labour of the o-eologist, who would investigate them." — Pluugh Bmj, vol. I. p. 372. 45' in prodigious masses, into the abyss below. The most considerable occurrence of this kind, that has recently taken place, is, that of the Table Rock,* on the Canadian shore, which fell during the summer of i 81 8, disclosing a number of those crystallized substances, which have already been alluded to. — • By these means, the falls, which are supposed by the most intelligent visitors, to have been anciently seated at Lewiston. have progressed seven miles up the river, cutting a trench through the solid rock, which is about half a mile in width, and two hundred feet in depth, exclusive of what is hidden by the water. The power, capable of effecting such a won- derful change still exists, and may be supposed to operate with undiminished activity. The wasting effects of the water, and the yielding nature of the rocks, remain the same, and mani;est the slow pro- cess of a change, at the present period, as to posi- tion, height, form, division of column and other cha- racters, which form the outlires of the great scene; and this change is sprobably sufficiently rapid in its operation, if minute observations were taken, to im- print a different character upon the Falls, at the close of every century Nothing in the examination of the geological constitution, and mineral strata of our continent, conveys a more striking illustration of its remote antiquity, (still doubted by many) than a consideration of the time, it must have required for the waters of Niagara, to have worn their channel, for such an immense distance, through the rock. It *The Table Rock, was a favourite point of view for many years, and the day preceding the ni^ht on which it fall with tre- mendous noise, a number of visitors, had stood with careless secu- rity upon it. 46 is true, wc are in possession of no certain data, for estimating the annual rate of their progress, or for comparing the results with the Mosaic history of the earth. All that can be presumed is, that this pro- gress, is now as rapid, as it was in former ages. The discovery of these Falls does not appear to have been made, until an hundred and eighty-six years af- ter the first visit of Columbus to the American con- tinent in 1492, or a hundred and eighty years after the discovery of North America by Cabot, in 1497. I assume the period of La Salle's visit, in 1673, as the basis of these deductions, but my opportunities of research, do not allow me to state with certainty that he was the first visitor, who has furnished a printed account of them. He was followed by La tiontan, in 1 683, and by the Jesuit, Charlevoix, in 1721 ; but, they give no accounts which are suffi- ciently precise, to enable us to determine what changes have since taken place in the aspect of the Falls. It was not, indeed, until after the dismem- berment of the Iroquois confederacy, that the path to the Falls was opened to the English Colonies, the date of whose unmolested intercourse with this region, cannot, however, precede that of the ratification of the definitive treaty of peace, with Great Britain, in 1784. It is, therefore, only thirty-six years, since it has been the free and fashionable resort of all sec- tions of the Union. Maps and descriptions are now extant, which will enable us to fix the rate of its progress, on the expiration of the present century, and we should not be disappointed in our anticipa- tions, if its progress is found, greatly to exceed the prevalent expectation. To aid in the determina- tion, the Island of Iris, which extends from the brink 47 of the Fall, up the river, and which is now connected with the shore, by a wooden bridge, appears to pre- sent great facilities. A simple measurement of its length, with a monument for recording it at its head, would convert it into a graduated scale, and the point of the indentation of the Horse Shoe Fall, couid, in like manner, be perpetuated on either shore, by a series of corresponding celestial observations, for de- termining the longitude of the extreme point of that incurvation. Distant ages would thus be furnished with data, the precision of which, would probably enable them to throw new and important lights on the history of the earth, aud the changes it has un- dergone. Is this suggestion of too visionary a na- ture, to merit the consideration of geological soci- eties ? On the third of May, I returned to Buffalo, and found the lake rapidly discharging its ice, which had been recently broken up by the wind. On the sixth, 1 embarked on board the Steam-Boat,* which left Black Rock at nine in the morning, and reached De- troit on the eighth at twelve at night. We were fa- voured with clear weather, and a part of the time with a fair wind. The Boat is large, uniting in its construction a great degree of strength, con- venience, and elegance, and is propelled by a pow- erful and well cast engine, on the Fultonian plan, arid one of the best pieces of workmanship of the origin- * Called the " Waik-in-the-Water," J. Rodgers, master. This boat performed her first rrip in 1818, eleven years after the first introduction of Steam-Boats upon the Hudson, and 139 years af- ter the first vessel (larger tuan an Indian Canoe) was buiil upon Lake Erie. See page 33. 43 al foundry.* The accommodations of th* boat arc all that could be wished, and nothing occured to in- terrupt the delight, which a passage at this season, affords. The distance is computed at three hundred miles; the time we employed in the voyage was six- ty-two hours, which gives an average rate of travel- ling of five miles per hour. The first two miles alter leaving Black Rock, a very heavy rapid is encoun- tered, in ascending which, the assignee of oxen ig required. It terminates a short distance below the mouth of Buffalo creek, and immediately opposite the village of BuTalo, where we find ourselves on the level of the waters of Lake Erie five hundred and sixty feet above the tide waters of the Hudson river f In passing through Lake Erie, the Boat touches at the town of Erie, in Pennsylvania, at the mouth of Grande River, and at the towns of Cleaveland and Portland, in Ohio, the latter situated on Sandusky Bay. On coming out of this Bay, we passed a large and well wooded island, which bears the name of Cunningham, and immediately came in sight of the rocky cluster of the Put-in-Bay or Bass Islands J * M'Queen's, New- York. f See Rf port or the N-nv York Canal Commissioners, to the Legislature, accompanied with a chart. | ft The Bass islands form a group of seven, lying about three miles from part of the Sandusky peninsula, and, as I have already observed, seven or eight miles northwest of Cunningham's island. Put-in-bay, is formed by a curve of the largest and most southern of the Bass groups, having two entrances, one from the east and the other from the west. The bay is very finely land-locked. The second large island of the group, stretching from east to west across the widest part at half a mile distant, and one of th» smaller islands lying opposite each channel. The three main islands do not differ much in extent, though that in which is Put-in-bay is he largest. All are uninhabited, and covered with a dense forest I had no means to determine their area with certainty, but judged 49 which afford one of the best harbours in the lake, and have acquired some celebrity from the circum- stance of Com. Perry's having been at anchor there on the morning previous to the memorable victory the three main islands to average about onp and a half miles long, and half a mile wide, and may cover from 2,500 to 3000 acres ta- ken collectively, resting; upon a solid mass of schistose rock in great part limestone. From here limestone, for the purpose of making lime, is carried as far as Detroit and Cleaveland. The soil is ex- cellent, and would admit a settlement of thirty or forty fami- lies. But every object of utility to which the Bass islands could be applied, yields to the importance of Put-in bay. This fine haven admits entrance and anchorage for vessels of any supposable draught, safe from all winds. It must become, from its position and depth of water, an object of great national value. No harbour in Lake Erie, or in its connecting waters, except in Erie strait, can in any respect compare with it ; its occupation as a naval and com- mercial station must one day take place." — Darby's Tour to De- troit, p. 185, 186. In one of the smallest of these Islands, called Moss Island, a large quantity of crystalized sulphatof Stronlian, has recent- ly been discovered. Having received several specimens of this mineral, from Mr. Win. A. Bird, of Troy, one of which is the fragment of a crystal weighing two pounds, I wrote to him for some account of its local- ity and geognostic position, and shall here, although without hav- ing solicited his permission, make an extract from the reply, with which he favoured me. ** On our return down the lake last fall, (1820) we were be- calmed near the Islands in Lake Erie — I took a boat and accompa- nied by Maj. Delnfield. Mr A. Stebenson, and Mr. De Russy (who was to be our guide) went in search of the Strontian to the main shore, where Mr. De Russy says, it was found in the summer of 1819- After an unsuccessful search of an hour, we gave it up and determined to return to our vessel — on our way we stopped at Moss Island, when immediately on landing, we found the mineral in question, — I wandered a little from the others, and found the large bed of which I spoke to you. We there procured large quantities,, and some large crystals. 7 50 of the tenth of September, 1813. We passed through this cluster, and another, called the Three Sisters, which lie in the Steam-Boat track between Put-in-Bay and the mouth of Detroit river, and en- tered the latter at twilight on the eighth. We had a view of the Fort and town of Maiden or Amherst- burs;, which lie a few miles above the entrance into the river, and immediately opposite the fertile islands of Bois Blanc and Grosse Isle. These were the last objects that could be distinguished; the night was dark, and we reached Detroit at a late hour, and (i This Strontian was found on the south side of Moss Island, in a horizontal vein of three feet in thickness, and from 40 to 50 feet in length. I had no means of judging its depth into the rock. The base of the Island is wholly compact limestone in which shells scarcely, if ever appear. The commissioner (Gen. P. B. Porter, acting under the treaty of Ghent, H. R. S.) has given his permis- sion, and 1 shall name this Island on the maps, " Slrontian Island," by which name I presume it will hereafter be known." The same substance had been found upon another part oTthis isl- and (as appears from Eaton's Geology, p. 23-1.) by the gentlemen attached to the boundary commission, during the preceding year, but not in the surprising quantity above stated. Professor Doug- lass, of West Point, and myself, have also noticed it upon Grosse Isle, In Detroit river, in the month of May, 1820, but found no crys- tals of more than a few ounces in weight. We found it lining con- cavities in a horizontal stratum of compact limestone destitute of organic remains. This locality is a stone quarry, which has been opened on the lands of Miss A. M'Comb of Detroit, and from which a great proportion of the building stone of that city is brought. From these facts it appears, that this mineral, 'hitherto so very sparingly found either in Europe or America, exists abundantly in the region around the head of Lake Erie, and should the progress of the arts require it, it is probable that the compact limestone of the Erie and Detroit Islands; may hereafter be found to yield a suf- ficient and lasting supply. 51 •without an opportunity of then witnessing the pictur- esque view, which the approach to that town, and the country adjacent, presents. Detroit occupies an eligible situation on the west banks of the strait that connects Lake Erie with Lake St. Clair, at the distance of six miles below the latter, and in north latitude 42° 30' according to the receiv- ed observation. The town consists of about two hun- dred and fifty houses, including public buildings,* and has a population of fourteen hundred and fifteen inhabitants, exclusive of the garrison.f It enjoys the * The following: is a list of the public buildings of Detroit : 1. A Roman Catholic church, Il6 feet in length, by CO in breath — is 110 feet high with two steeples, has a chapel underground 63 feet by 60, originally designed for a nunnery. Building — of stone and not entirely finished. 2. A Protestant Church, built of wood, painted and furnished with a dome supported by wooden pillars 3. An Academy of brick — is 50 feet long, by 24 in breath. 4. A Penitentiary — is built of stone, two stories high, and 88 feet by 44 on the ground. 5. The Council house — occupied by the Indian department, is built of stone 27 feet by 50. 6. The banking house of the bank of Michigan, 36 feet square, two stories high, built of brick. 7. A market house. 60 by SO. 8. Government store-house — of brick, 100 feet by 40. 0. Military Arsenal— is 50 by SS, two stories high, built of stone. 10. The Ordnance store-house, a spacious stone building. 11. To these may be added Fort Shelby, which stands in the town, and the adjoining barracks, capable of quartering several re- giments. t This is the result of the census of 1820, for the communica- tion of which, together with the greater part of the details I publish respecting modem Detroit, I have to acknowledge my obligations to James D. Dot}', Esq. attorney at law, of that place, and one of the members ©f the late expedition ro the sources of the Mississippi. 52 advantages of a regular plan, spacious streets, and a handsome elevation of about forty feet above the riv- er, of which it commands the finest views. Very few of the French antiquated buildings remain. There are several buildings of brick and stone, but the greatest number are painted wooden dwellings, in the style of architecture, which is prevalent in the wes- tern parts of the state of New-York. An air of taste and neatness is thus thrown over the town, which su- peradded to its elevated situation, the appearances of an active and growing commerce, the bustle of mechanical business, its moral institutions,* and the local beauty of the site, strikes us with a feeling of surprise which is the more gratifying as it was not anticipated. The site of Detroit was occupied by an Indian vil- lage, called Teuchsagrondie rfwhen first visited by the French ; and among the singularities of its history, we find that it is one of the most ancient European settlements in the interior of the new world, having been a stopping place for the Couriers du Bois and * Societies at Detroit. 1. The Lyceum of the city of Detroit. Its object is the cultiva- lion of general science and literature. Its meetings are popular. 2. A Society for the Promotion of Agriculture. 3. \ Me'-hanics' Society. o 4. A Bible Society. 5 Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. 0. Masters' Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. 7. A Moral and Humane Society. 8. A Sunday School Association. There are two catholic, a rotestant and a methodist clergyman, 12 atlornies- and 8 physicians. f Colden's History of the Five Nations, 53 Jesuit Missionaries, as early as 1620. Quebec was founded in 1608; Albany, 1614. The New-England Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, in ln20. Regular set- tlements do not appear, however, to have been made at Detroit until the commencement of the seventeenth century. Charlevoix, who landed here in June, 1721, found it the site of a French Fort called Ponchar- train under the command of La Salle's Lieutenant, M. To-iti, He speaks of the beauty and fertility of the country., in terms of the highest admiration. " It is pretended," he says. " that this is the finest portion of all Canada, and really, if we may judge by appearan- ces, nature seems to have refused it nothing that can contribute to make a country delightful ; hills, mea- dows, fields, lofty forests, rivulets, fountains, and riv- ers, and all of them so excellent in their kind, and so happily blended, as to equal the most romantic wishes. The lands, however, are not all equally proper for every sort of grain, but in general are of a wonderful fertility, and I have known some pro- duce good wheat for eighteen years in succession, without any manure. The islands seem placed in the river on purpose to enhance the beauty of the prospect ; the river and lake abound in fish, the air is pure, and the climate temperate and extremely wholesome."* There were then three bands of In- dians located upon the west banks of the strait, be- tween lakes Erie and St. Clair. The first on ascend- ing, consisted of the Dionondadies,t a band of Wy- * Charlevoix's Journal of a Voyage to N. America, vol. II, p. G. f Called Tionontatez by Charlevoix, and Amihouis by the French generally, but I follow the orthography of Golden. andots,* having high pretensions to ancestry, and who were considered the radical stock of the Wyan- dot tribe.t Between these and Fort Ponchartrain, there was a settlement of Pottawattomies, and be- yond the fort along the banks of Lake St. Clair, the Ottaways held possession. Charlevoix alludes to the labours of former missionaries among them, who appear to have been most successful with the Hurons, but of the French settlement which is stated to be of fifteen years standing, he adds, that " it has been reduced almost to nothing," and points out to the Dutchess de Lesdiguieres, to whom his letters are addressed ; the advantages that New France w T ould derive from a permanent settlement at that place. The history of Detroit, during this early period is that of the territory of which it is now the capital. It was noted throughout the earliest settlements of the colonies, as the rendezvous of the Couriers du Bois, and the mart where the remote tribes of the North and West, called collectively the Far Indians* by early writers, exchanged their peltries for Euro- pean manufactures ; and when the fall of Quebec and Montreal in 1759, added the Canadas to the Bri- tish crown, Detroit was a considerable French vil- lage, defended by a stockaded fort, and surrounded * Called Hurons by the French. Quatoghies, by the Iroquois nnd English. This is one of the few Indian tribes in the U. S, who are called by the name which they have bestowed upon them- selves as a nation. t The council fire of this tribe, which is always the rallying point among our savages, is understood to be still fixed at the place indicated by Charlevoix jas the residence of the Dionondndies, viz. at Browntown, at the mouth of Detroit riveir. | CoIden T s Five Nations- 55 with a farming population. In the year 1763,*(con- iaining then a British garrison of three hundred men, under Major Gladwyn) it was besieged by a confed- eracyt of Indian tribes under Pontiac, an OttawayJ chief, who displayed such a boldness in his designs, such skill in negociation, and such personal courage in war, as to justify us in considering him one of the greatest men which have ever appeared among the Indian tribes of North America.^ He was the deci- ded and constant enemy of the British government and excelled all his cotemporaries in both mental and bodily vigour. His conspiracy for making him- self master of the town of Detroit,and destroying the garrison, although frustrated, is a masterpiece among * Carver places the date of Pontiac's siege, in 1762, but I have followed Henry, who was an officer of the army of Gen. Brad- street, which marched to the relief of the Fort in 1764. He says the siege had then been continued nearly twelve months and must consequently have began in 1763. Henry 7 s Travels and Adventures'in Canada, and the Indian Ter- ritories between the years 1760 and 1776. t The tribes composing this confederacy were the Miamis, Cu- taways, Chippeways, Wyandots, Pottawatames, Mississagas, Shawnese, Otlagamies and YVinnebagoes. | Pontiac is considered by Carver as a Miami ; but those per- sons best acquainted with the subject at Detroit, among whom is the present chief magistrate of the Michigan Territory, consider him to have been an Ottaway. § There is but a single individual in the history of aboriginal chiefs who will bear a comparison with Pontiac. This is Tecu in- set), (a name still fresh in every body's recollection,) who, by his extraordinary powers, both of mind and body, formed a confed- eration of the same Indian tribes, under the British standard .whom Pontiac had formerly led against it. 56 Indian stratagems ; and his victory over the British troops, at the battle of Bloody Bridge, stands unpar- alleled in the history of Indian wars, for the decision and steady courage by which it was, in an open fight, achieved.* * I cannot resist the inclination I feel of giving in this place, an extract from the interesting account which Carver has given of the life and war of this extraordinary chief. " The town of Detroit, when Pontiac formed his plan, was gar- risoned by ahout three hundred men, commanded by Major Glad- win, a gallant officer. As at that time every appearance of war was at an end. and the Indians seemed to be on a friendly footing, Pontiac approached the Fort, without exciting any suspicions in the breast of the governor or the inhahitants. He encamped at a little distance from it, and sent to let the commandant know that he was come to trade ; and being desirous of brightening the chain of peace between the English and his nation, desired that he and his chiefs might be admitted to hold council with him. The governor still unsuspicious, and not in the least doubting the since- rily of the Indians, granted their general's request, and fixed on the next morning for their reception. " The evening of that day, an Indian woman who had been em- ployed by Major Gladwyn, to make him a pair of Indian shoes, out of curious elk-skin, brought them home. The Major was so pleas- ed with them, that, intending these as a present for a friend, he ordered her to lake the remainder back, and make it into others for himself. He then directed his servant to pay her for those she had done, and dismissed her. The woman went to the door that led to the street, but no further; she there loitered about as if she had not finished the business on which she came. A servant at length observed her, and asked her why she staid there ; she gave him, however, no answer. " Some short time after, the governor himself saw her; and en- quired of his servant what occasioned her stay. !Not being able to get a satisfactory answer, he ordered the woman to be cal. led in. When she came into his presence he desired to know what was the reason of her loitering about, and not hastening home before the gates were shut, that she might complete in due time the 57 The siege of Detroit was continued by Pontiac, for nearly twelve months together, during which time the garrison, although gallantly defended by the Bri- tish commandant, had suffered severely, and the con- federate Indians had been frequently on the point of work he had given her to do. She told him, after much hesitation that as he had always behaved with great goodness towards her, she was unwilling to take away the remainder of the skin, because he put so great a value upon it ; and yet had not been able to pre- vail upon herself to tell him so. He then asked her, why she was more reluctant to do so now, than she had been when she made the former pair. With increased reluctance she answered, that she never should be able to bring them back. " His curiosiiy being now excited, he insisted on herdisclosing to him the se< ret that seemed to be struggling in her bosom for ut- terance. At last, on receiving a promise that the intelligence she was about to give him should not turn to her prejudice, and that if it appeared to be beneficial she should be rewarded for it, she Informed him, that at the council to be held with the Indians the following day, Pontiac and his chiefs intended to murder him ; and, after having massacred the garrison a- d inhabitants, to plun- der the town. That for this purpose all the chiefs who were to be admitted into the council-room had cut their guns short, so that they could conceal them under their blankets ; with which, at a signal given by their general, on delivering the belt, they were all to rise up, and instantly to fire on him and his attendants. Having effected this, they were immediately to rush into the town, "where they would find themselves supported by a great number of their warriors, that were to come into, it during the sitting of the council, under pretence of tradhg, but privately armed in the same manner. Having gained from the woman every necessary particular relative to the plot, and also the means by which she acquired a knowledge of them, he dismissed her with injunctions of secrecy, and a promise of fulfilling on his part with punctuality the engagements he had entered into. " The intelligence the governor had just received, gave him great uneasiness ; and he immediately consulted the officer who was next to him in command on the subject. But that gentleman con- 8 58 carrying the town hy assault. At length the ap- proach of Gen. Bradstreet, with 3000 men,* struck the Indians with consternation, and they mei him with offers of peace at Miami Bay. A few days af- terwards, on the eighth of August, 1764, he arrived siderins: the information as a story invented for some artful pur- poses, advised him to pay no attention to it. This conclusion how- ever had happily no weight with him. He thought it prudent to conclude it to be true till he was convinced that it was not so ; and therefore, without revealing his suspicions to any other person, he took every needful precaution that the time would admit of. He walked round the fort during 1 the whole night, and saw himself that every centinel was on duty, and every weapon of defence in proper order. " As he traversed the ramparts which lay nearest to the Indian camp, he heard them in high festivity, and, little imagining that their plot was discovered, probably pleasing themselves with the anticipation of their success. As soon as the morning dawned, he ordered all the garrison underarms; and then imparting his ap- prehensions to a few of the principal officers, gave them such di- rections as he thought necessary. At the same time he sent round to all the traders, to inform them, that as it was expected a great- number o( Indians would enter the town that day, who might be in. clined to plunder, he desired they would have their arms ready, and repel every attempt of that kind. " About ten o'clock, Pontia** and his chiefs arrived ; and were con- ducted to the council-chamber, where the governor and his princi- pal officers, each with pistols in their belt, awaited his arrival. As the Indians passed on, they could not help observing that a greater number of troops than usual were drawn up on the parade, or inarching about No sooner were they entered, and seated on the skins prepared for them, than Pontiac asked the governor on what occasion his young men, meaning the soldiers, were thus drawn up, and parading the streets. He received for answer, that it was only intended to keep them perfect in their exercise. " The Indian chief-warrior now began his speech, which contain- ed the strongest professions of friendship and good will towards * Henry's Travels, p. 1S2. 59 it Detroit, and a general peace ensued, Pontiac, unable to control the events of a war in which he saw himself deserted by numbers of his followers, and un- willing to live on terms of friendship with a people to whom he had imbibed an early hatred, the conse- quence of his attachment to the French, fled to Illi- nois, where he afterwards paid the price of his en- mity with his life.* the English ; and when he came to the delivery of the belt of wam- pum, the particular mode of which, according; to the woman's information, was to be the signal for his chiefs to fire, the governor and all his attendants drew their swords halfway out of their scab* bords.; and the soldiers at the same instant made a clattering with their arms before the doors, which had been purposely left open. Pontiac, though one of the boldest of men, immediately turned pale, and trembled ; and instead of giving the belt in the manner proposed, delivered it according to the usual way His chiefs, who had impatiently expected the signal, looked at each other with astonishment, but continued quiet, waiting the result. "The governor in his turn made a speech ; but instead of thank- ing the great wavrior fur the professions of friendship he had just uttered, he accused him of being a traitor. He told him that the English, who knew every thing, were convinced of his treachery and villanous designs; and as a proof that they were weh acquaint- ed with his most secret thoughts and intentions, he stepped towards the Indian chief that sat nearest to him. and drawing aside his blanket discovered the shortened firelock. This entirely discon- certed the Indians, and frustrated their design. (i He then continued to tell them, that as he had given his word at the time they desired an audiance, that their persons should he safe, he would hold his promise inviolable, though they so little de- served it. However he advised them to make the best of their way out of the fort, lest his young men, on being acquainted with their treacherous purposes, should cut every one of them to pieces. * Henry denies that the death of Pontiac is attributable to the influence of the British government, but admits that the account which Carver gives of it, is, in other respects, correct. (50 After the close of Pontiac's war, Detroit enjoyed a period of tranquillity, which continued until the breaking out of the American Revolution, at the close of which, it fell by the definitive treaty of peace of 1784, under the jurisdiction of the United States. " Pontiac endeavoured (o contradict the accusation, and to make •excuses for li is suspicious conduct ; but the governor, satisfied of the falsity of his protestations, would not listen to him. The Indians immediately left the fort, but instead of being sensible of the gov- ernor's generous behaviour, they threw off the mask, and the next day made a regular attack upon it. *' Major Gladwin has not escaped censure for this mistaken leni- ty ; for probably had he kept a few of the principal chiefs prison- ers, whilst he had them in his power, he might have been able to have brought the whole confederacy to terms, and have prevented a war. But he atoned for this oversight, by the gallant defence he made for more than a year, amidst a variety of discourage- ments. " During that period some very smart skirmishes happened be- tween the besiegers and the garrison, of which the following was the principal and most bloody : Captain Delzel, a 'rave officer, prevailed on the governor to give him the command of about two hundred men, and to permit him to at'ack the e .emy's camp. This being complied with, he sallied from the town before day- break ; but Pontiac receiving from some of his swift-footed war- riors, who were constantly employed in watching the motions of the garrison, timely intelligence of their design, he collected to- gether the choi« est of his troops, and met the detachment at .^ome distance from his camp, near a place since called Bloody-Bridge. " As the Indians were vastly superior in numbers to captain Del- zel's party, he was soon over-powered and driven back. Being now nearly surrounded, he made a vigorous effort to regain the bridge he had just crossed, by which alone he could find a retreat ; but in doing this he lost his life, and many of his m n fell with him. llovever, Major Rogers, the second in command, assisted by Lieutenant Breham, found means to draw off the shattered remains of their little army, and conducted them into the fort. " Thus considerably reduced, it was with difficulty the Major .could defend the town 5 notwithstanding which, he held out against 61 } The continued hostility of the Indian tribes, however, prolonged the period of its surrender, for several years; and, according to Herriot,* the transfer of authority did not take place until 1 796. 1 lie inter- mediate time was occupied by the Indian wars, suc- the Indians till he was relieved, as after this 'they made but few attacks on the place, and only continued to blockade it. " The Gladwin Schooner (that in whirl) 1 afterwards took my passage from Michilimaekinac to Detroit and which I since learn was lost with all her i;rc\v on Lake Krie, through the obstinacy of the -• ommander, who could not be prevailed upon to take in suffi- cient ballast) arrived about this time near the town with a rein- forcement and necessary supplies. But before this vessel could reach the pla« e of its destination, it was most vigorously attacked by a detachment from Pontiac's army. Th« Indians surround* d it in their canoes, and made great havoek among the crew. "At length the captain of the schooner, with a considerable num- ber of his men being kibed, and the ravages beginning to cli ;.b up the sides from ever) quarter, the Lieutenant (IWr Jacobs, who afterwards commanded, and was lost in it) bein<; determined that the stores should not fall into the enemy's hands, and seeing no other alternative, ordered the gunner to set fie to the powder- room, and blow the ship up This order was on the point of be- in^ executed, when a chief of the Hurons, who understood the English language, gave out to hU friends the intention of the com- mander. On receiving this intelligence, the Indians hurried down the sides of the ship with the greatest precipitation, and got as far from it as possible ; whilst the commander immediately took ad- vantage of their consternation, and arrived vvithout any further obstruction at the town. " This seasonable supply gave the garrison fresh spirits ; and Pontiac being now convinced that it would not be in his power to reduce the place, proposed an accommodation ; the governor wishing as much to get rid of such troublesome enemies, who ob- structed the intercourse of the traders with the neighboring nations, listened to his proposals, and having procured advantageous terms, .agreed to a peace. The Indians soon after separated, and return- a &ee Herriot's Travels through the Canadas, in 1813. 02 eessively conducted by generals Harmer, St. Clair, and Wayne, in which the bad success of the two former, was amply compensated by the decisive cam- paign of the latter, who possessed the faculty of trans- fusing into the operations of his army, that wonderful energy, for which he was characterized. By the treaty of Greenville, of 179;,, the post of Detroit was surrendered to the United States ; and, from this period, there has been an American garrison kept here, with the exception of about eleven months, which elapsed between the surrender of general Hull, in 1812, and the re-occupation of the country, by general Harrison, in 1813. The town was first incorporated by the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the North- west Territory, on the 18th of January, J 802. In 1805, when it consisted, according to Herriot, of upwards of two hundred houses, it was entirely destroyed by fire, not a house being left on the plat ed to their different provinces ; nor have they since thought pro' per to disturb, at least in any great degree, the tranquillity of these parts. " Pontiac henceforward seemed to have laid aside the animosity !>e had hitherto borne towards the English, and apparently became their zealous friend. To reward this new attachment, and to in- sure a continuance of it, government allowed him a handsome pen- sion- But his restless and intriguing spirit would not suffer him to be grateful for this allowance, and his conduct at length grew suspicious ; so that going, in the year 1767, to hold a council in the country of the Illinois, a faithful Indian, who was either com- missioned by one of the English governors, or instigated by the Jove he bore thp English nation, attended him as a spy ; and be • ing convinced from the speech Pontiac made in the coun< il, that he still retained his former prejudices against those for whom he now professed a friendship! he plunged his knife into his heart. as scon as he had doue speaking, and laid him dead on the spot" C3 of the old town. This presented the opportunity of widening the streets, and laying out the town upon an improved plan, by which it has been much beau- tified, and eventually advantaged. The old town consisted wholly of wooden buildings, very compact, with the streets only thirty feet wide, resembling, in this respect, the antique French villages in Illinois. Missouri, and Louisiana. In 1810, the act incorporating the town was re- pealed. On the 16th of August, 181 2, articles of capitulation were signed, by which the fort and town was sur- rendered to a British army under general Brock, who afterwards fell in the battle of Queenston. On the 6th of October, 1813,* the town was re- occupied by a division of the American army under generals McArthur and Cass, and the latter subse- quently appointed Governor of the Michigan Terri- tory. On the 24th of October, 1815, the town was again incorporated by the governor and judges of the ter- ritory, under the name of " the City of Detroit." By the act of Congress, passed January 1 1th, 1805. it is declared to be the seat of the Territorial Go- vernment, until Congress shall otherwise direct. The ordinance of Congress of 1787, prohibits slavery in the territory. This ordinance had respect to all that extensive tract of then unincorporated country, lying northwest of the Ohio river, and of which the present states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois form a part. These are some of the prominent civil and military events of which Detroit has been the theatre, and * See Fay's Battles of the late War, between 1 SI 2-15. 64 "which, by eliciting, from time to time, the attention of the public, have conferred upon it a celebrity,, which the most populous cities, barren of historic incident, never attain. This notoriety it has partak- en of, in connexion with the surrounding country^ which continued to be the rallying point of contend- ing armies, and the scene of Indian warfare and In- dian barbarity, during two of the most important campaigns of the late war. It has thus acquired an interest from the sword, which neither the pen of the poet, or the pencil of the painter, have been employ- ed to excite. It is gratifying, however, to behold, that Detroit does not acquire its principal charm from extraneous circumstance,-, and that the local beauty of the site, the fertile district of cultivated land by which it is surrounded, and the advantages it enjoys for the pur- poses of commerce, are calculated to arrest our ad- miration, and to originate a high expectation of its future destination and importance. A cursory exa- mination of the map of the United States, will indi- cate its importance as a place of business, and a mi- litary depot. Situated on the great chain of lakes, connected, as they are. at almost innumerable points, with the waters of the Mississippi, the Ohio, the St. Lawrence, the Hudson, and the Red River of the JVorth, it communicates with the ocean, at four of the most important points in the whole continent. And when these natural channels of communication shall be improved, so as to render them alilo passable at all seasons of the year, the increasing products of its commerce and agriculture, will be presented with a choice of markets, at New-Orleans, New York, or Montreal, an advantage derived from its singular po- 65 sition on the summit level in which the most consi- derable rivers, lakes, and streams in America, ori- ginate. It is thus destined to be to the regions of the northwest, what St, Louis is rapidly becoming in the southwest, the seat of its commerce, the reposi- tory of its wealth, and the grand focus of its moral, political and physical energies. CHAPTER II. JQURJVEY* FROM DETROIT TO THE ISLAND OF MI C.I ILL MA CKLYA C. 1 he time which elapsed between my arrival at De- troit on the 8th of May, and the date of our departure on the 24th, was occupied in completing the prepa- rations