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

HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.

291

and Bay to constitute the Saginaw Valley, we have a territory
well entitled to the term of ' Grand Saginaw Valley.' Its extreme
length north and south is something over 125 miles; its extreme
breadth about 120 miles. That portion of it, the waters of which
drain through the Saginaw river proper, comprises about 170 townships, as per Government survey, over 6,000 square miles, and
over 4,000,000 of acres. If we add that portion which is drained
into the Saginaw Bay through streams which do not empty into
the Saginaw river, like the Kawkawlin, the Rifle, Au Gres, etc.,
it will increase the size of the valley by about 50 townships, making a total of about 220 townships, —about 7,800 square miles.
" The Saginaw Valley is the largest in Michigan. Grand river
valley is next in size, and that contains about 150 townships. It
was in 1831 that the French philosopher. DeTocqueville, visited
the Saginaw Valley. He came to see nature untouched by civilization. He wanted to see the forests in their primitive condition.
Inquiring at Detroit of Maj. Biddle, the register of the land office,
as though he desired to purchase land, he inquired indifferently
toward which side of the district the current of emigration had up
to that time least tended, and received for answer, ' Toward the
northwest. About Pontiac and its neighborhood some pretty
fair establishments have lately been commenced, but you must not
think of fixing yourselves further off; the country is covered by an
almost impenetrable forest, which extends uninterruptedly toward
the northwest, full of nothing but wild beasts and Indians. The
United States proposes to open a way through it immediately, but
the road is only just begun and stops at Pontiac. I repeat that
there is nothing to be thought of in that quarter.'
"DeTocqueville came; for it was this quarter that he desired to
visit. He came, crossed the Saginaw river, and landed at the
point now known as 'Saginaw City,' which then contained 30
persons, including men, women, old people, and children. While
at Saginaw, concerning his views of the present and future, he
wrote as follows: 'In a few years these impenetrable forests will
have fallen; the sons of civilization and industry will break the
silence of the Saginaw; its echoes will cease; the banks will be
imprisoned by quays; its current, which now flows on unnoticed
and tranquil through a nameless waste, will be stemmed by the
prows of vessels. More than ahundred miles sever the solitude
from the great European settlements, and we are, perhaps, the
last travelers allowed to see its primitive grandeur.'
" Think of it! Only 46 years ago, no highway from Detroit
into the Saginaw Valley! A road had been but just begun, but it
stopped at Pontiac. The advice which Maj. Biddle gave to DeTocqueville seems to have been the advice which was given to all
who desired to settle in the then Territory of Michigan. Northwest
from Detroit was not to be thought of. The heavy forests shut
out the sun, the face of the country generally level, the watercourses choked with logs and brush. The effect was that the waters
were not carried away by evaporation, and only slowly found