The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-06-08
Lake Htchigan's New Harbor--What
Came OF a Lawsuit anai the Digging
Of q Dstch. t". otf p
rFrnm tho New York sun.l

.@a TFrnm tho New York Sun. ...-
a new harbor has been formed on Lake
Michigan under extraordinary circum.
stances. About ten miles north of Munis-
tee, near the shore of Lake Michigan. is
Portage lake, beautiful, clear, deep body
OF water, about four miles long by two and
n half miles wide. 1t has heretofore dis
charged its waters by n creek or outlet
known as Portage creek, about quarter
OF mile long, into Lake Michigan. Upon
this creek many years ago, and when most
of the land around the lake was Govern.
ment land, n dam was erected for water
min. Tbis dam raised the water in Portage
lake about eight feet, and flowed several
hundred acres Of good land around the
margin Of the lake. These lands had been
gradually occupied by actual settlers,
mostly poor - homesteaders," to whom the
| ilowaSe of their lands became q serious in.
jury and grievous nuisance. ....., .....g..
In 1867 suit was commenced in the Cir
cult Court to secure the reduction of the
dam. and about year ago 4 decree was cn.
| tered for its removal and abatement. But
| the owners Of the mill property, being non.
| residents, disrrgardcd the decree, and
snapped their fingers ut the farmers whose
lands were ovcrilowcd. The period OF seven
| months, allowed by the court for the reduc.
tinn of the dam, expired last December,
without any steps having been taken to car
| ry out the decree Of the court. This spring
| the water was found to be much higher than
usual, aud many additional acres of land
were oycrllowel. The farmers injured by
the nuisance then came to the conclusion
| that forbcarancc had ceased to be a virtue,
| and resolved upon summary proceedings
Selecting 4 spot about one mile south OF
| the natural outlet, where the Portage Lake
approaches within thirty rods of Lake
Michigan, and the dividing neck OF land is
q sand ridge rising some fourteen feet above
the level of the laSt-namcd lake, they begar
to dig ditch. This was on the 18th ult
| Upon the complaint Of the mill owners the
whole party ut work were arrested and
taken to Manistce on the charge of ut.
tempting to drain Il mill-poud. They gave
bail and ut once returned to their work
Two days later they were again arrested
with the same result. In about 4 week they
had completed the ditch, SO that the water
ltlowcd through in Il small brook, but the
sides carcd III and oI,structcd the stream
so that for two weeks 10 Derceptihl(
effect was produced on the body of water
they were cndcavOrinS to lower. But on
the 9th inst. the water had obtained such
volume that 1t began to cut away the banks
and deepen its channel rapidly, so that or
the morning of the 7th it had crown to q
river about two rods wide and four feet
deep. It's increase thus far had been slow
and regular. A correspondent of tho De
troit IOSt writes that about s O'Clock on the
morning OF the Ith the barriers seemed t.
Isuddcnly give way, the stream quickly deep
cncd and broadencd. and the rush of water.
became terrific. Not less than ten square
miles of water, so feet in depth, were press
ingfor exit from their long confinement. Tho
narrow neck of land between the two lake,
was covered with Il heavy forest of timber
hard wood, and hemlock. These immense
forest trees fell with 4 crash, one after an
other, into tho roaring flood, aud Wcr,
swept away like twigs in the boilin. cur
rent. The scene ut this stage is described
by those who witnessed it rs grand beyonl
description. The sweep of the waters wa:
fearful, aud they poured through their mar
row outlet with hutumultuousness that fairly
shook The earth, and with Il roar amos
like that of Niagara. Acre after acre Of The
forest fell beneath the rcSiStesS flood, ant
the two lakes melted and disappeared like
the work Of magic. Immense trees were
Whrled along hike feathers on the wafer
and with such violence rs to be broken ant
torn limb from limb.
| In five hours the two lakes were OH the
same level, and instead Of the sand bllt
and forest that had separated and hiddei
| them from each other, Il broad strait, moi
less than 125 yards in width and from q
to 80 feet i'll depth, united them, forming II.
fine Il harbor as there is on the east shore o.
Lake Michigan some say the best. The
lake withiniS beautiful and deep, with bold
and picturesque shores in most OF its parts,
| and penctratcs into one OF the richest a.1ri
| cultural regions in northwestern Michigan
| Meanwhile the mill and dam that caused al
the trouble are left high and dry, and unless
| their owners can devise some way to coax
the water to run up hill, their occupation Ii
gone forever. Several excursion parties
have visited the runaway lake on tugs. The
entrance was found perfectly feasible, but,
for miles around, Lake Michigan was strcwl
with forest trees which had been swept out,
many of them standing erect III the water,
being kept i'll that position by the weight ol
the roots and the earth attached.