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

.EPORTS OF PIONEER IISTORICAL MEETINGS

69

modern conveniences. She never complained about her lot and
never was troubled about the latest fashions.
I looked upon those times with the eyes of a very little child,
and in trying to recall them I find that the details of everyday life
are mostly lost to me, but certain pictures remain as vividly before
my mind's eye as though the actual scene was now before me.
Among these is that of one of the pioneers-Cyrus Austin
(some of you must remember him). He was a stalwart backwoodsman, and if he was not a mighty hunter it is as such that my
imagination has always portrayed him. It was late in the afternoon of the last day but one in December, 1842. My parents
had left the old home in New York and had been travelling for
weeks toward a new home that we were to make in the wilderness.
We had been directed to the then famous "Rolfe Settlemlent,"
where the long pilgrimage was to end. We were tired and hungry. We had surely come far enough to reach the settlement,
and there was as yet no sign of human habitation near, only unbroken forest before, behind and on every side of us. The snow
was deep, and only a half trodden road wound in and out among
the great trees of the primeval wilderness.
We had not seen a human being, except those of our own party,
for hours. Those who were driving the teams began to think we
had lost our way when suddenly, just where the road made a
sharp turn to avoid a huge sycamore which stood in our way,
there appeared a man who had already stepped out upon the
snow to wait for us to pass. HIe looked as though he himself
were a part of the wild scene. An ample cap of raccoon skin
almost hid his face, and he wore a great tunic shaped coat of the
same material. IHe carried a gun over one shoulder, and over
the other, trailed in the snow behind him, the carcass of a deer
he had just shot. He was asked to direct us to the "Rolfe Settlement." His keen eyes at once took in the whole situation.
He scanned the worn teams, the battered covers of the heavily
loaded sleighs, the anxious faces of the elders of the party and
the scared looks of the children. He saw that we were newcomers, with no idea of what life in the backwoods must be, and
before he could speak he broke into a loud ringing laugh that
echoed and re-echoed through the woods as though twenty men
were laughing, and then he caught his breath and said, with a