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

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

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wee; Warner Wing, Charles Noble and A ustin E. Wing, of Monroe
county; Randolph Manning, 0. D. Richardson and James B. Hunt,
of Oakland; Henry R. Schoolcraft, of Chippewa; Albert Miller, of
the Saginaw Valley; John Stockton and Robert P. Eldridge, of
Macomb; Lucius Lyon, Charles E. Stuart; Edwin H. Lothrop,
Epaphroditus Ransom and Hezekiah G. Wells, of Kalamazoo; Isaac
E. Crary, John D. Pierce and Oliver C. Comstock, of Calhoun;
Kinsley S. Binghan, of Livingston; John S Barry, of St. Joseph;
Charles W. Whipple, Calvin Britain and Thomas Fitzgerald, of
Berrien; and George Redfield, of Cass. These men and their compeers shaped the policy of the State, and decided what should be
its future. They originated all and established most of the great
institutions which are the evidences of our advanced civilization,
and of which we are so justly proud.
ADMINISTRATION OF GEN. CASS.
At the close of the war with Great Britain in 1814, an era of
prosperity dawned upon the infant territory. Gen. Lewis Cass, who
had served the Government with great distinction during the war,
was appointed Governor. The condition of the people was very
much reduced, the country was wild, and the British flag still waved
over the fort at Mackinaw. There was nothing inviting to immigrants except the mere facts of the close of the war and the existence of a fertile soil and a good climate. The Indians were still
dangerous, and the country was still comparatively remote from
the centers of civilization and government. Such a set of circumstances was just the proper environment for the development of
all those elements of the "sturdy pioneer" which we so often
admire in writing up Western history. Here was the field for
stout and brave men; here was the place for the birth and education of real Spartan men,-men of strength, moral courage and
indomitable perseverance.
At first, Gen. Cass had also the care of a small portion of Canada
opposite Detroit, and he had only 27 soldiers for defending Detroit
against the hostile Indians and carrying on the whole government.
Believing that a civil governor should not be encumbered also with
military duty, he resigned his brigadier-generalship in the army.
But as Governor he soon had occasion to exercise his military
power, even to act on the field as commander, in chasing away
marauding bands of Indians. The latter seemed to be particularly
threatening at this time, endeavoring to make up in yelling and
petty depredations what they lacked in sweeping victory over all
the pale-faces.
In times of peace Gov. Cass had high notions of civilizing the
Indians, encouraging the purchase of their lands, limiting their
hunting grounds to a narrow compass, teaching them agriculture
and mechanics and providing the means for their instruction and
religious training. The policy of the French and English had been
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