Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

STOCKI3RIDGE TOWNSTHI- AND ITS HISTORY

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painfully inscribed, by the light of a camp fire, at the end of a hard
day's tramp of perhaps miles. The little three by four-inch volume is reminiscent of the very beginnings of civilization in the
northern portion of Michigan-the country which, when the notes
which will be partially reproduced below were written, was densely
covered with magnificent pine forests. It probably never occurred to Mr. Wheaton that he passed through the country which
but a few years later was to be sacrificed to make a few lumber
kings, and then abandoned as waste land, not worth the payment of the taxes.
A sort of foreword to his journal of pioneer travel is dated July
4, 1846, and is appropriately independent. "May the enemies of
this state never be permitted to eat the bread thereof, nor drink
the pure water thereof, nor visit the Lake of Independence thereof.
Written by Henry M. Wheaton, on the evening of the third day of
July, after a heavy shower of rain, and almost dark, and the
mosketers thick as h-ll," is the introduction to the story.
Following is a sort of narrative of the surveying trip to the
northern country, then nearly the same as when Pere Marquette
lived and converted the Indians. While some of the names are
hard to identify, probably having been changed by later surveys,
in general terms the trip seems to have been up Lake Huron,
through St. Mary's river and into Superior, and along the south
shore of that magnificant body, past the "Pictured Rocks," and
into the primeval wilderness.
"Had you followed me through all my travels," says the narrative, "you might have seen me leave my family at Detroit on
the 12th of May, 1846, and embark on board the steamer Detroit,
for the mineral lands of the south shore of Lake Superior, as a
hand in a surveying party under the direction of W. M. Ives.
After a heavy storm you might have seen me land at Sault Ste.
Marie falls; then, under an open tent at night, lying on the ground,
our bedclothes consisting of one blanket apiece. Then on board
the schooner Merchant; then on Lake Superior, in the hold among
the Dutch, with some cord wood and some barrels to lie on,
staying there six days, watching for a wind to carry us out on the
wide lake, and many were sick around me."
Mr. Wheaton apparently left the boat at "Huron river, " and his
first duty was the distribution of supplies for the maintenance of