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

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

'75

Anson Brown, Samuel W. Dexter. W. E. Perrine, Win. A. Thompson, Isaac Crary. O. W. Colden, Caleb Eldred, Cyrus Lovell, Calvin
Brittain and Tallnan Wheeler. The act of incorporation required
that the road should be completed within 30 years; this condition
was complied with in less than one-third of that time. The same
council also incorporated the "Bank of the River Raisin," with a
branch at Pontiac. Previous to this two other banks had been
chartered, namely: the " Bank of Michigan," in 1817, with a branch
at Bronson, and the " Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of MJichigan,"
with a branch at St. Joseph.
The Legislative Council of 1834 also authorized a vote of the
residents to be taken on the question of organizing as a State and
becoming a member of the Union; but the vote was so light and
the majority so small that Congress neglected to consider the matter
seriously until two years afterward.
During Porter's administration a change was made in the
method of disposing of the public lands, greatly to the benefit of
the actual settlers. Prior to 1820 the Government price of land
was $2 an acre. one-fourth to be paid down and the remainder in
three annual installments; and the land was subject to forfeiture if
these payments were not promptly made. This system having
been found productive of many serious evils, the price of land was
put at $1.25 an acre, all to be paid at the time of purchase. This
change saved a deal of trouble.
During the administration of Gov. Porter occurred the "Black
Hawk" war, mainly in Illinois, in 1832, which did not affect
Michigan to any appreciable extent, except to raise sundry fears by
the usual alarms accompanying war gossip. A few volunteeirs
probably went to the scene of action from this Territory, but if any
systematic account was ever kept of this service, we fail to find it.
In October, 1831, Edwin Jerome left Detroit with a surveying
party composed of Joln Mullet, surveyor, and Utter, Brink and
Peck, for that portion of Michigan Territory lying west of Lake
Michigan, now Wisconsin. Their outfit consisted of a French
pony team and a buffalo wagon to carry tent, camp equipage,
blankets, etc. Most of the way to the southeast corner of Lake
Michigan they followed a wagon track or an Indian trail, and a
cabin or an Indian hut to lodge in at night; but west of the point
mentioned they found neither road nor inhabitant. They arrived
at Chicago in a terrible rain and " put-up " at the fort. This farfamed city at that time had but five or six houses, and they were
built of logs. Within a distance of three or four miles of the fort
the land was valued by its owners at 50 cents an acre.
After 23 days' weary travel through an uninhabited country,
fording and swimming streams and exposed to much rainy weather,
they arrived at Galena, where they commenced their survey, but in
two days the ground froze so deep that further work was abandoned
until the next spring. The day after the memorable Stillman batttle with Black Hawk, while the Mullet party were crossing the