History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...

208

HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.

from the river, was a morass, and uninhabitable. However, we
resolved to inspect it ourselves. With Jewett to guide us we traveled the country up and down the river and from the river back,
until we were satisfied that it was the best and most proper place
for a court-house. Besides Jewett, there was with us that day a
man by the name of Joshua Terry, who lived at Pontiac. Frost
and I fixed upon a site, and drove a stake to indicate the spot selected. We took measurements from different points on the river
with such bearing as would enable one to find the identical spot,
and agreed to meet next morning and make our report. I went to
Jewett's shanty at Green Point, and Frost went to the fort, as it
was called, where he could find our other associate. The next
morning, to my surprise, I found that Frost had been overcome,
demoralized, and had actually signed a report locating the site on
the spot selected by Dexter. Through the love of whisky which
was entertained by Frost, and the love of gain entertained by the
other Commissioner, the county seat of Saginaw county was located.
I was then a member of the Legislative Council from Oakland
county and all the Lower Peninsula north and west of it, and with
pride I endeavored to extend and uphold the interests of my constituents, the pioneers of old Oakland, as well as those of the beautiful valley of the land of Saco. I have with deep solicitude and
great pleasure witnessed the untiring exertions of the pioneers, and
the marvelous growth and prosperity of the country.
"Fifty years ago and this vast country, of which the Saginaw
Valley may be considered the center, was the home of the deer
and the red man; its deep forests were then unmarked by the steps
of the pale face; the most of it was beyond the pale of civilization.
And what do we see now? Towns and cities adorn the land; railroads traverse the country in every direction; its rivers are utilized
as highways for commerce and travel, and as a resistless motive
power for manufactories; its forests are receding before the redoubled blows of the ax men, and being molded into articles of
commerce, are wafted away thousands of miles for improvement or
ornament in distant countries. And above all and beyond all, on
the 24th of June, 1874, the pioneers of the State proposed to inaugurate and to carry into execution the celebration of the anniversary of the organization of the State government.
"All hail! Pioneers of Saginaw. Long have you suffered, and
gloriously have you conquered. May you long enjoy the rich rewards with which your labors are crowned. Receiv te the congratulations of an old pioneer."
THE PIONEERS OF THE SAGINAW.
In their own circle within the original boundaries of Saginaw, the
pioneers have done much which deserves honorable mention. It
is true that the fame of a Washington, or the terribly earnest
patriotism of a Montgomery have not been their share; yet there
is no reason whatever to suppose that, did circumstances create