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

246

HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.

ECLIPSE OF THE MOON.
One of the most sublime astronomical events of 1881-a total
eclipse of the moon-occurred Sunday morning, June 12. The
moon appeared above the horizon at about 8:20 P. M. in its usual
brilliancy. When about two and one-half hours high, it received
the first contact with the penumbra of light shadow of the earth
upon its eastern limb, which became slightly dim, and a loss of
lunar light followed as the moon entered the penumbra. Fifty-six
minutes then elapsed without further change in its appearance,
while traversing the partial shadow of the earth; but when the
umbra or dark shadow of our planet was reached, the eastern
limb of the moon again darkened, suddenly, almost to invisibility.
The circular shape of the earth's shadow was distinctly seen when
passing over the face of the moon. At 38 minutes past 12 the
moon was wholly within the umbra and the total eclipse commenced. It continued in darkness for an hour or so, and then
all was the same as usual.
THE WOLF-SLAYERS OF SAGINAW.
Immediately after the organization of this county (1837) the
board of commissioners resolved to pay a bounty for wolf-scalps
in addition to that offered by the State. This was a great incentive to clearing the district of those destructive creatures. Many
of the settlers at once took the field, and took rank among the most
expert wolf-hunters of the land. In the following summary the
names of wolf-slayers are given from 1838 to 1848. At the close
of the latter year it is said there could not be found within the
boundaries of Saginaw county, as now constituted, one wolf lair;
nevertheless large numbers of the pests visited the district at
intervals and supplied food for powder as well as subject for
bounty. The bounty for killing a wolf was $8; so that in the
following enumeration of the slayers, the number of times eight
is contained in the number of dollars written, will represent the
number of wolves killed:In October, 1838, the following wolf-slavers received the
amounts appended to their hames:-Cornelius Wiltsie, $24; Medor
Tromble, $48; J. B. Garland, $8; Charles Tibbitts, $40; E. Jcwett,
$24; Silas Barns, $8; Antoine Peltier, $16; Peter Loire, $8; Arden
Moses, $8; A. R. Swarthout, $16; James Tyrrell, $8; Ben. Severson, $8; Sherman Wheeler, $40; Henry Campeau, $8; J. II. Davis,
$16; Roderick Vaughan, $8. This list represents the destruction
of 36 wolves.
In April, 1839, Roderick Vaughan killed two wolves; Sherman
Wheeler, two; and John Malone, one. In July, Douglas Thomnpson killed one, and in October Medor Tromble and Leverett
Hodgman caught two.
Int eb., 1840, Charles S. Tibbitts killed eight wolves; Mark D.
Bavasa, one; an Indian, one; Cornelius Wiltsie, five; Wm. Shaw,