The Yale expositor., 1921-02-17
A Brief But Interesting History of
Early Life in st. Clair County
Should Be Read BY All.


The first white men to navigate
the st. Clair river were the two
French priests, DOllier and CALI
nee, in the year 1910. The records
)rior to this time have not been
reserved. Joliet came down the
liver in 1869. His maps and rec
,rds were lost, however, when his
canoe turned over in the st. Law
renee river. Joliet is supposed to
be the first white man to explore
and to know Lakes Huron, Michi-
gan, st. Clair and Erie.
In 1884 Cartier discovered and
explored the St. Lawrence river
as far as Montreal. In 1908 Cham
plain established French settle
ment at Quebec. Champlain was
the first governor of New France
as Canada was called. In 1915, by
way of Ottawa river and Lake
Nipissing he reached Lake Huron
through Georgian Bay. French
priests had already worked as
missionaries among the Indians of
the Georgian Bay region and for
the most part warrior and priest
together traversed the unknown
waters and explored new lands,
the one to extend the sway of his
king over new territories, the 9TH
er to convert the heather and
bring them safe into the Chris
tian fold"
Brule, Nicollet and others fol-
lowed soon after. In 1850 there
was published in Paris the first
map of America, marking the
Great Lake region. This is the
famous Samson map.
In 1871, the French laid claims
to the Lake region. Missions and
trading posts were established at
Mackinac, the Sault, Green Bay,
including a vast territory west and
northwest of the Lake region.
AS the result of a friendly al
lance between the English who
occupied New York and the Iro-
quOis Indians, the French suffer-
ed much at the hands of the latter
who were entrenched by a formid-
able confederacy in central New
York. Hence for many years the
French were forced to carry on
commercial activities by way Of
the Ottawa river, a roundabout
and dangerous route. By 1886 an
English party had pushed west.
ward through the rivers and lakes
and had reached Mackinac. The
English offered better bargains to
the Indians and a keen competi-
tion ensued. In 1649 the Iroquois
Indians almost completely destroy
ed the Hurons; this, Of course,
weakened the influence of the
French.
In order to defend themselves, a
fort was established by the French
at the entrance of St. Clair river
in 1866, and in 1701 Cadillac es-
tablished post at Detroit. In 1853
the struggle between the French
and the English came to a termi-
nation by the defeat of Montcalm
and the region of the Great Lakes
passed into the hands of the Eng
lish. Shortly after the English had
taken possession of the French pos
sessions occurred the famous Pom.
tiac War. The capture of the fort
at Mackinac and the siege of De.
troit form the theme of Francis
Parkman's Conspiracy of Pom.
tiac," most delightful volume.
In 1888 the treaty of peace was
made between Great Britain and
the United States, thus ending the
American Revolution. The ordi.
nance of 1877 established the
North West Territory. This in
cluded the land northwest of the
Ohio River. Michigan was not in.
cluded until after 1895, when forts
controlling the Great Lakes were
delivered to the Americans. Or
January 18th, 1905, the territory
Of Michigan was organized. Al
this time Michigan had a popula
tion of about 5000, confined chief
ly to Detroit and along the river
front between Lake Huron ant
River Raisin.
A governor and three judges
appointed by the president com
bined the legislative, executiv,
and judicial functions. In 1924 6
legislative council Of nine mem
bers was elected by the people. Ii
1910 the population of the terri
tory had increased to 4,528. Tn,
growth was slow due to the fac
that the present section compris
ing Michigan was somewhat to tn
north of the pathway from tn
East to the West and the land
along the river front in large par
belonged to the Indians. In 100
the Indians relinquished thei
rights to large portion in tn
south and east of the territory, in
Guiding what is now st. Clai
county.