Birmingham, Mich. : its past, present and future.

PAST. PRESENT AND FUTURE.

ONG BEFORE the first log cabin was built upon the present
site of Birmingham, an old French trapper named Michaud
frequently passed through the woods here on fur-trading expeditions to Detroit. In conversation with the late Mr. Edwin Baldwin one day he related the particulars of a battle
fought between two Indian tribes, of which he was a witness. The
story is as follows:
An Indian tribe, returning homeward from a trading trip to Detroit, reached the bottom lands of the River Rouge just north of Birmingham late one summer afternoon. The natural beauty of the
spot, and the advantages of a stream of water, made it a favorite
camping place for the Indians. This tribe, in fancied security,
prepared to camp here for the night. Little did they dream that
they were in close proximity to a tribe who were their most bitter
enemies. Only one person was aware of their deadly peril, and
that was Michaud. He was encamped a little further down the
stream, and his keen eye had catght sight of a number of small,
dark objects, which he knew to be Indian heads, bob up occasionally on the heights beyond. This, to him, could have but one
meaning-they were lying in wait for the tribe below, and only
waited the proper time to descend like a tornado upon their unsuspecting victims. Meanwhile the tribe in camp busied themselves
preparing their evening meal. Suddenly the air was filled with
shrill Indian war whoops. The time had come. Swiftly down the
hill came hundreds of whooping warriors. The surprised tribe had
scarcely time to grasp their weapons before their enemies were
upon them. The air was filled with savage yells, flying arrows and
swinging tomahawks. A deadly hand-to-hand combat was on.

closely pursued by their relentless foes, who picked off one after
another, until the last of the tribe lay dead upon the field of battle,
not, however, without sustaining great loss themselves. After the
battle, Michaud said, he counted fifteen hundred dead Indians, but
he doubtless drew greatly upon his imagination in this particular.
Thus it will be seen that the site of Birmingham was a battlefield
long before the advent of white men. It was over the Indian trail,
now known as the Saginaw road, that the celebrated chief Pontiac
frequently passed on his way to and fro between Detroit and his

JOHN HAMILTON:
lodge upon an island in Orchard Lake. No doubt he encamped
here and perfected his plans just previous to his unsuccessful attempt to massacre the inhabitants of the post at Detroit. The first
white man who came to Birmingham with any intention of remaining was John W. Hunter, and he was followed soon after by John
Hamilton and Elija Willits. It seems that a brother of John
Hunter came with him, but for some reason or other did not remain. John W. Hunter was a son of Elisha Hunter, of Auburn,
N. Y., and came through Canada and over the ice on the Detroit
river to Detroit in the winter of 181S8. Hunter, Hamilton and
Willits entered land in and about the site of Birmingham and proceeded to make improvements. John Hunter has the credit for
erecting the first house, a log one, in Birmingham, but by some
unaccountable mistake built it upon the Willits tract instead of his
own. The house, it is said, stood upon the spot where Mr. Alexander Parks' houses now stands. Mr. I-Iunter also built the second
house in Birmingham, a short distance to the southeast of the first
one. The third building-a tavern as well as a residence-was built
by John Hamilton, and the fourth, a tavern residence, by Mr.
Willits. Mr. Hunter also used his house as a tavern, and, strange
to relate, there were three public houses here at that time and only
one private one. It is related that John and Rufus Hunter, with
John Hamilton, walked to Graham's at Paint Creek and each
brought back a bushel of potatoes and planted them, being the first
seed planted by white men in this vicinity. Mr. Hunter procured a
cow and a yoke of oxen, which were a great boon to the settlement.

JOHN W. HUNTER.
When the first clash was over all the women and children and most
of the surprised savages lay dead upon the river bank. The few
that survived the first attack slowly retreated up the hill, dodging
from tree to tree, some of them sticking with arrows. They were