Topographical survey of the northern shores of Green Bay and of the
entire basin of Lake Michigan--Geological and Mineralogical
indicia of the coast line--Era of sailing vessels and of the
steamboat on the lakes--Route along the Huron coast, and return of
the expedition to Detroit.
The coast line traversed by the party detached from Green Bay on the 22d
of August, under Mr. Trowbridge, extended from the north shore of Fox
River to the entrance of the Monominee River, and thence around the
Little and Great Bay de Nocquet, to the northwestern cape of the
entrance of Green Bay. From the latter point, the northern shore of Lake
Michigan was traced by the Manistic, and the other smaller rivers of
that coast, to the northern cape of the Straits of Michilimackinac, and
through these to Point St. Ignace and the Island of Michilimackinac. The
line of survey, agreeably to their reckoning, embraced two hundred and
eighty miles, thus closing the topographical survey of the entire coast
line of the basin of Lake Michigan, and placing in the hands of Captain
Douglass the notes and materials for a perfect map of the lake.[146]
[146] It is to be regretted that Capt. Douglass, who, immediately on
the conclusion of this expedition, was appointed to an important and
arduous professorship in the U. S. Military Academy of West Point,
could not command the leisure to complete and publish his map and
topographical memoir of this part of the U. S. So long as there was a
hope of this, my report of its geology, &c., and other data intended
for the joint PUBLIC WORK, were withheld. But in revising this
narrative, at this time, they are submitted in the Appendix. Prof.
Douglass, of whose useful and meritorious life, I regret that I have
no account to offer, died as one of the Faculty of Geneva College,
October 21, 1849.
Mr. Trowbridge, whom I had requested to note the features of its geology
and mineralogy, presented me with labelled specimens of the succession
of strata which he had collected on the route. These denoted the
continuance of the calcareous, horizontal series of formations of the
Fox Valley, and of the islands of Green Bay, quite around those northern
waters to the closing up of the surveys at Point St. Ignace and
Michilimackinac. Nor do the primitive rocks disclose themselves on any
part of that line of coast. Of this collection, Mr. Trowbridge well
observes, in his report to me, the most interesting will probably be the
organic remains. These were procured on the northeast side of Little
Nocquet Bay, where areas of limestone appear. They consist of duplicates
of the pectinite. Three layers of this, the magnesian limestone, show
themselves at this place, of which the intermediate bed is of a dull
blue color and compact structure, and is composed in a great measure of
the remains of this species. It is comparatively soft when first taken
up, but hardens by exposure. About ten miles north of this point, the
upper calcareous, or surface rock, embraces nodules of hornstone.
Specimens of a semi-crystalline limestone, labelled "marble," were also
brought from a cliff, composed of this rock, on the lake shore, about
thirty to forty miles southwest from Michilimackinac. Mr. Doty also
brought some specimens of sulphate of lime, cal. spar, and some of the
common rolled members of the quartz-drift stratum.
Michilimackinac is a name associated with our earliest ideas of history
in the upper lakes. How so formidable a polysyllabic term came to be
adopted by usage, it may be difficult to tell, till we are informed that
the inhabitants, in speaking the word, clip off the first three
syllables, leaving the last three to carry the whole meaning. The full
term is, however, perpetuated by legal enactment, this part of Michigan
having been organized into a separate county some time, I believe,
during the administration of Gen. Hull. The military gentlemen call the
fort on the cliff, "Mackin[=a]," the townspeople pronounce it Mackinaw;
but if a man be hauled up on a magistrate's writ, it is in name of the
sovereignty of Michilimackinac. Thus law and etymology grow strong
together.
Commerce, we observe, is beginning to show itself here, but by the few
vessels we have met, while traversing these broad and stormy seas, and
their little tonnage, it seems as if they were stealthily making their
way into regions of doubtful profit at least. The fur trade employs most
of these, either in bringing up supplies, or carrying away its avails.
La Salle, when, in 1679, he built the first vessel on the lakes, and
sent it up to traffic in furs, was greatly in advance of his age; but he
could hardly have anticipated that his countrymen should have adhered so
long to the tedious and dangerous mode of making these long voyages in
the bark canoe. It is memorable in the history of the region, that last
year (1819) witnessed the first arrival of a steamer at Michilimackinac.
It bore the characteristic name of Walk-in-the-water,[147] the name of a
Wyandot chief of some local celebrity in Detroit, during the last war.
[147] So called from the water insect, called _Miera_ by the
Wyandots, one of the invertebrata which slips over the surface of
water without apparently wetting its feet.--Vide _Ethnological
Researches_, vol. ii. p. 226.
The astonishment produced upon the Indian mind by the arrival of this
steamer has been described to us as very great; but, from a fuller
acquaintance with the Indian character, we do not think him prone to
this emotion. He gazes on new objects with imperturbability, and soon
explains what he does not understand by what he does. Perceiving heat to
be the primary cause of the motion, without knowing how that motion is
generated, he calls the steamboat Ishcoda Nabequon, _i. e._ fire-vessel,
and remains profoundly ignorant of the motive power of steam. The story
of the vessel's being drawn by great fishes from the sea, is simply one
of those fictions which white loungers about the Indian posts fabricate
to supply the wants of travellers in search of the picturesque.
The winds seem to be unloosed from their mythologic bags, on the upper
lakes, with the autumnal equinox; and we found them ready for their
labors early in September; but it was not till the 13th of that month,
after a detention of two days, that we found it practicable for canoes
to leave the island. Mustering now a flotilla of three canoes, we
embarked at three o'clock P.M., with a wind from the east, being
moderately adverse, but soon got under the shelter of the island of
Boisblanc; we passed along its inner shore about ten miles, till
reaching Point aux Pins--so named from the prevalence here of the pinus
resinosa. At this point, the wind, stretching openly through this
passage from the east, compelled us to land and encamp. The next day, we
were confined to the spot by adverse winds. While thus detained, Captain
Douglass, under shelter of the island, returned to Mackinac, in a light
canoe, doubly manned, for something he had left. When he returned, the
wind had so far abated that we embarked, and crossed the separating
channel, of about four miles, to the peninsula, and encamped near the
River Cheboigan.[148] This was a tedious beginning of our voyage to
Detroit; the first day had carried us only _ten_ miles, the second but
_four_.
[148] CHEBOIGAN. This is a noted river of the extreme of the
peninsula of Michigan, which has just been made the centre of a new
land district by Congress. It affords a harbor for shipping, and
communicates with Little Travers Bay on Lake Michigan. A canal
across a short route, of easy excavation, would avoid the whole
dangerous route through the Straits of Michilimackinac, converting
the end of the peninsula into an island, and save ninety miles of
dangerous travel.
We were now to retraverse the shores of the Huron, along which we had
encountered such delays in our outward passage, and the men applied
themselves to the task with that impulse which all partake of when
returning from a long journey. Winds we could not control, but every
moment of calm was improved. Paddle and song were plied by them late and
early. A violent rain-storm happened during the night, but it ceased at
daybreak, when we embarked and traversed a coast line of forty-four
miles, encamping at Presque Isle. Rain fell copiously during the night,
and the unsettled and changing state of the atmosphere kept us in
perpetual agitation during the day. Notwithstanding these changes, we
embarked at five o'clock in the morning (16th), and, by dint of
perseverance, made thirty miles. We slept on the west cape of Thunder
Bay. Next morning, we landed a few moments on the Idol Island, in
Thunder Bay, and, continuing along the sandy shore of the _au sauble_,
or Iosco coast, entered Saganaw Bay, and encamped, on its west shore, at
Sandy Point. Indians of the Chippewa language were encountered at this
spot, whose manners and habits appeared to be quite modified by long
contact with the white race.
The morning of the 18th (Sept.) proved fair, which enabled us to cross
the bay, taking the island of Shawangunk in our course, where we stopped
an hour, and re-examined its calcedonies and other minerals. We then
proceeded across to Oak Point, on its eastern shore, and, coasting down
to, and around, the precipitous cliffs of Point aux Barques, encamped in
one of its deeply-indented coves, having made, during the day, forty-two
miles.
The formation of this noted promontory consists of an ash-colored, not
very closely-compacted sandstone, through original crevices in which the
waves have scooped out entrances like vast corridors. In one of these,
which has a sandy beach at its terminus, we encamped. He who has
travelled along the shores of the lakes, and encamped on their borders,
having his ears, while on his couch, close to the formation of sand, is
early and very exactly apprised of the varying state of the wind. The
deep-sounding roar of the waves, like the deep diapason of a hundred
organs, plays over a gamut, whose rising or falling scale tells him,
immediately, whether he can put his frail canoe before the wind, or must
remain prisoner on the sand, in the sheltering nook where night
overtakes him. These notes, sounded between two long lines of cavernous
rocks, told us, long before daybreak, of a strong head wind that fixed
us to the spot for the day. I amused myself by gathering some small
species of the unio and the anadonta. Captain Douglass busied himself
with astronomical observations. We all sallied out, during the day, over
the sandy ridges of modern drift, in which the pinus resinosa had firmly
imbedded its roots, and into sphagnous depressions beyond, where we had,
in the June previous, found the sarracenia purpurea, which is the cococo
mukazin, or oral's moccasin of the Indians. Here we found, as at more
westerly points on the lake, the humble juniperus prostrata, and, in
more favorable spots, the ribes lacustre.[149]
[149] Am. Journ. Science, vol. iv. 1822.
It was stated to us at Michilimackinac, that Lake Huron had fallen one
foot during the last year. It was also added that the decrease in the
lake waters had been noticed for many years, and that there were, in
fact, periodical depressions and refluxes at periods of seven and
fourteen years. A little reflection will, however, render it manifest
that, in a region of country so extensive and thinly populated,
observations must be vaguely made, and that many circumstances may
operate to produce deception with respect to the permanent diminution or
rise of water, as the prevalence of winds, the quantity of rain and snow
which influences these basins, and the periodical distribution of solar
heat. It has already been remarked, while at the mouth of Fox River,
that a fluctuation, resembling a tide, has been improperly thought to
exist there, and, indeed, similar phenomena appear to influence the
Baltic. Philosophers have not been wanting, who have attributed similar
appearances to the ocean itself. "It has been asserted," observed
Cuvier, "that the sea is subject to a continual diminution of its level,
and proofs of this are said to have been observed in some parts of the
shores of the Baltic. Whatever may have been the cause of these
appearances, we certainly know that nothing of the kind has been
observed upon our coast, and, consequently, that there has been no
general lowering of the waters of the ocean. The most ancient seaports
still have their quays and other erections, at the same height above the
level of the sea, as at their first construction. Certain general
movements have been supposed in the sea, from east to west, or in other
directions; but nowhere has any person been able to ascertain their
effects with the least degree of precision."[150]
[150] Theory of the Earth. Modern geologists attribute these changes
to the rising or sinking of the earth from volcanic forces.
On the next day (20th) the wind abated, so as to permit us, at six
o'clock A.M., to issue from our place of detention; but we soon found
the equilibrium of the atmosphere had been too much disturbed to rely on
it. At seven o'clock, and again at nine o'clock, we were driven ashore;
but as soon as it slackened we were again upon the lake; it finally
settled to a light head wind, against which we urged our way diligently,
until eight o'clock in the evening. The point where we encamped was upon
that long line of deposit of the erratic block, or boulder stratum, of
which the White Rock is one of the largest known pieces. At four o'clock
the next morning, we were again in motion, dancing up and down on the
blue waves; but after proceeding six miles the wind drove us from the
lake, and we again encamped on the boulder stratum, where we passed the
entire day. Nothing is more characteristic of the upper lake geology,
than the frequency and abundance of these boulders. The causes which
have removed them, at old periods, from their parent bed, were doubtless
oceanic; for the area embraced is too extensive to admit of merely local
action; but we know of no concentration of oceanic currents, of
sufficient force, to bear up these heavy masses, over such extensive
surfaces, without the supporting media of ice-floes. The boulders and
pebbles are often driven as the moraines before glacial bodies, and
there are not wanting portions of rock surface, in the west, which are
deeply grooved or scratched by the pressing boulders. The crystallized
peaks of the Little Rocks, above St. Anthony's Falls, have been
completely polished by them.--_Vide_ p. 149.
The next morning (22d) we were released from our position on this bleak
drift-coast, although the wind was still moderately ahead, and after
toiling twelve hours adown the closing shores of the lake, we reached
its foot, and entered the River St. Clair. Halting a few moments at Fort
Gratiot, we found it under the command of Lieut. James Watson Webb, who
was, however, absent at the moment. Two miles below, at the mouth of
Black River, we met this officer, who had just returned from an
excursion up the Black River, where he had laid in a supply of fine
watermelons, with which he liberally supplied us. From this spot, we
descended the river seven miles, to Elk Island, on which we encamped at
twilight, having made fifty-seven miles during the day. Glad to find
ourselves out of the reach of the lake winds, and of Eolus, and all his
hosts, against which we may be said to have fought our way from
Michilimackinac, and animated with the prospect of soon terminating our
voyage, we surrounded our evening board with unwonted spirits and glee.
Supper being dispatched, with many a joke, and terminated with a song in
full chorus, and the men having carefully repaired our canoes, it was
determined to employ the night in descending the placid river, and at
nine o'clock P.M. all was ready and we again embarked. Never did men
more fully appreciate the melody of the Irish bard:--
"Sweetly as tolls the evening chime,
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time."
At half past three the next morning, we found ourselves at the entrance
to Lake St. Clair, thirty miles from our evening repast. Owing to the
dense fog and darkness, it was now necessary to await daylight, before
attempting to cross. Daylight, which had been impatiently waited for,
brought with it our old lake enemy, head winds, which made the most
experienced men deem the passage impracticable. Counselled, however,
rather by impatience than anything else, it was resolved on. Rain soon
commenced, which appeared the signal for increased turbulence; but by
dint of hard pushing in the men, with some help from our own hands, we
succeeded in weathering Point Huron, the first point of shelter. The
right hand shore then became a continued covert, and we successively saw
point after point lessen in the distance. It was noon when we reached
Grosse Point, the original place of our general embarkation on
commencing the expedition; the rest of the voyage ran like a dream "when
one awaketh," and we landed at the City of Detroit at half past three
o'clock P. M.
Gov. Cass, and his equestrian party from Chicago, had preceded us
thirteen days, as will be perceived from the following article from the
weekly press of that city, of September 15, 1820, which embraces a
comprehensive notice of the expedition; its route, the objects it
accomplished, and the effects it may be expected to have on the leading
interests and interior policy of the country, as well as the drawing
forth of its resources.
EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
FROM THE DETROIT GAZETTE.
Last Friday evening, Governor Cass arrived here from Chicago,
accompanied by Lieutenant M'Kay and Mr. R. A. Forsyth,[151] both of whom
belonged to the expedition--all in good health.
[151] Major Robert A. Forsyth was a native of the Detroit Country, of
Canadian descent, and born a few years after its transfer to the
United States. At the time of the expedition, he was the Secretary of
Governor Cass, and was admirably qualified to take a part in it, by
his energy and perseverance, his indomitable courage, and his
physical power and activity. Some of these traits of character were
developed at an early age. He was but yet a lad at the time of the
surrender of Detroit, and was so much excited by that untoward event,
that he insulted the British officers in the fort by his reproaches,
and so irritated them that one of them threatened to pin him to the
floor with a bayonet. During the war upon the frontier, he was
actively employed, and on more than one occasion distinguished
himself by his conduct and courage. He was with Major Holmes at the
battle near the Long Woods, and behaved with great gallantry. In
1814, he was sent with Chandruai, a half-breed Pottowatamie, and with
a small party of Indians, to invite the various Indian tribes to come
to Greenville, at the treaties about to be held by Generals Harrison
and Cass, with a view to detach the North-Western Indians from
British influence. On the route, they met a superior party of
Indians, led by an officer of the British Indian Department, who
attempted to take them prisoners. They resisted, and, by their prompt
and almost desperate courage, drove off the British party. Forsyth
distinguished himself in the contest, in which the British leader of
the party was killed. Soon after the war, he was appointed Private
Secretary to Governor Cass, and continued in that capacity for
fifteen years, till the latter was transferred to the War Department.
He accompanied the General in all his expeditions into the Indian
country, and rendered himself invariably useful, having a peculiar
talent to control the rough men who took part in these dangerous
excursions. He was ultimately appointed a paymaster in the army, in
which capacity he served in Mexico, where he acquired the seeds of
the disorder which proved fatal to him in 1849. He will be long
recollected and regretted by those who knew him, for the shining
qualities of head and heart which endeared him to all his
acquaintances.
We understand that the objects of the expedition have been successfully
accomplished. The party has traversed 4,000 miles of this frontier since
the last of May. Their route was from this place to Michilimackinac, and
to the Sault of St. Mary's, where a treaty was concluded with the
Chippewas for the cession of a tract of land, with a view to the
establishment of a military post. They thence coasted the southern shore
of Lake Superior to the Fond du Lac; ascended the St. Louis River to one
of its sources, and descended a small tributary stream of Sandy Lake to
the Mississippi. They then ascended this latter river to the Upper Red
Cedar Lake, which may be considered as the principal source of the
Mississippi, and which is the reservoir where the small streams forming
that river unite. From this lake they descended between thirteen and
fourteen hundred miles to Prairie du Chien, passing by the post of St.
Peter's on the route. They then navigated the Ouisconsin to the portage,
entered the Fox River, and descended it to Green Bay. Then the party
separated, in order to obtain a topographical sketch of Lake Michigan.
Some of them coasted the northern shore to Michilimackinac, and the
others took the route by Chicago. From this point they will traverse the
eastern shore of the lake to Michilimackinac, and may be expected here
in the course of a week. Governor Cass returned from Chicago by land. A
correct topographical delineation of this extensive frontier may now be
expected from the accurate observations of Captain Douglass, who is
fully competent to perform the task. We have heretofore remained in
ignorance upon this subject, and very little has been added to the stock
of geographical knowledge since the French possessed the country. We
understand that all the existing maps are found to be very erroneous.
The character, numbers, situation, and feelings of the Indians in those
remote regions have been fully explored, and we trust that much valuable
information upon these subjects will be communicated to the Government
and to the public. We learn that the Indians are peaceable, but that the
effect of the immense distribution of presents to them by the British
authorities, at Malden and at Drummond's Island, has been evident upon
their wishes and feelings through the whole route. Upon the
establishment of our posts, and the judicious distribution of our small
military force, must we rely, and not upon the disposition of the
Indians. The important points of the country are now almost all occupied
by our troops, and these points have been selected with great judgment.
It is thought by the party, that the erection of a military work at the
Saut is essential to our security in that quarter. It is the key of Lake
Superior, and the Indians in its vicinity are more disaffected than any
others upon the route. Their daily intercourse with Drummond's Island,
leaves us no reason to doubt what are the means by which their feelings
are excited and continued. The importance of this site, in a military
point of view, has not escaped the observation of Mr. Calhoun, and it
was for this purpose that a treaty was directed to be held. The report
which he made to the House of Representatives, in January last, contains
his views upon the subject.
We cannot but hope that no reduction will be made in the ranks of the
army. It is by physical force alone, and by a proper display of it, that
we must expect to keep within reasonable bounds, the ardent, restless,
and discontented savages, by whom this whole country is filled and
surrounded. Few persons living at a distance are aware of the means
which are used, and too successfully used, by the British agents, to
imbitter the minds of the Indians, and preserve such an influence over
them as will insure their co-operation in the event of any future
difficulties. A post at the Fond du Lac will, before long, be necessary,
and it is now proper that one should be established at the portage
between the Fox and Ouisconsin Rivers.
Mr. Schoolcraft has examined the geological structure of the country,
and has explored, as far as practicable, its mineralogical treasures. We
are happy to learn that this department could not have been confided to
one more able or zealous to effect the objects connected with it.
Extensive collections, illustrating the natural history of the country,
have been made, and will add to the common stock of American science.
We understand that copper, iron, and lead are very abundant through the
whole country, and that the great mass of copper upon the Outanagon
River has been fully examined. Upon this, as well as upon other
subjects, we hope we shall, in a few days, be able to communicate more
detailed information.
DISCOVERY
OF THE
ACTUAL SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
IN
ITASCA LAKE,
BY AN EXPEDITION, AUTHORIZED BY THE WAR DEPARTMENT OF
THE UNITED STATES, IN 1832.
BY HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT,
UNITED STATES SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS FOR MICHIGAN, ETC.