INTRODUCTION.

VERY little was known, until within the last few years, of the finely diversified country which forms the peninsula of Michigan; and we believe the remark may be freely made, that, even at the present time, the knowledge of this valuable portion of country, is nearly confined to the enterprising individuals who have made a personal examination of it. It is only, in fact, since the conclusion of the late war, that public attention has been fully awakened to this hitherto neglected section of the national domain, and that emigrants have been led to entertain a just appreciation of its fine soil and equable climate.

The tract under consideration, embraces upwards of four degrees of latitude, extending north of about 41° 30', and equal in surface to, perhaps, three-fourths of England. If the shape of this peninsula be compared to a garment, the comparison improves by observing, that during the whole period of its colonial subjection to the French and British governments, the hem only was known. With

the single exception of the ancient settlement of Detroit, very little more was known of the agricultural capacities of this territory, at the commencement of the war in 1812, than at the commencement of the seventeenth century. And it is among the anomalies of its history, that a country deemed so inaccessible from swamps in 1818, as to be unfit to be given in bounty lands to the soldiers of the late army, should, within six years thereafter, be found to possess qualities of so different a nature, as to attract crowds of emigrants from the fertile banks of the Genesee, and to divert, in a measure, the current of migration from the Wabash and the Illinois. Time, better means of comparison, and the spirit of exploration, which characterizes the present era, without showing the advantages of other parts of the western country to be less than has been claimed for them, have, at the same time, shown the advantages of Michigan Territory, to be in many respects equal-while its vicinity to the parent settlements, and the ease and cheapness of access, together with the quality of the land, and the permanent benefits anticipated from the completion of the Erie canal, give it, in the minds of many, a superiority.

It is now very well understood, that the interior portions of this territory, are in most places equally fertile with its borders, and that there are no obstacles incompatible with its speedy settlement. Like those parts of it, where agriculture has long been successfully practised, a great portion of the surface is covered with an ample forest of hard wood, every where well watered by living

streams, and susceptible of being improved by the labours of husbandry, and adorned with flourishing towns.

The greater part of the newly explored lands, consists of an argillaceous soil, mellowed with sand and pebblestones, and clothed with an open growth of oaks and hickories, forming the much esteemed open oaklands; so favourable to all the staple products of temperate northern latitudes. These oaklands frequently present themselves to the eye in sloping ridges, with apparently measured interstices between the trees, and together with the larger dry prairies, are principally covered with a species of native grass, of a nutritious quality, which grows to the height of five or six feet, and is judged to be nearly equal to timothy for cattle. The intervening valleys, enriched with the alluvial wash of the hills, constitute the first-rate corn-lands, and are finely timbered with maple, beech, black-walnut, bois blanc,* and ash. The proportion of comparatively arid pine land, is quite limited; and the whole surface of the country, as represented by those who have explored it, is agreeably diversified with small limpid lakes, grassy prairies, and pebbly-bottomed brooks.†

"Whatever blooms in (western vales) appear,
Whose bright succession decks the varied year;
Whatever sweets salute the northern sky,
With vernal lives, that blossom but to die--

* Liriodendron.

Journal of the Shiawassa Exploring Company.

These, here disporting, own the kindred soil,
Nor ask luxuriance from the planter's toil;
While sea-born gales their gelid wings expand,

To winnow fragrance round the smiling land."

This vast tract of woodland is inhabited by a scattered population of Indians, who, from the best accounts, do not collectively number over four thousand souls; and the lands are every year becoming of less value to them, from the gradual failure of game, and the very rapid diminution of the small furred animals, so necessary to their support as hunters. At the same time, the mass of white population, about Detroit and River Raisin, having received a new impulse, has gradually extended itself westward, and with the incipient tide of emigration, created a demand for the vacant Indian lands.

To meet this demand, portions of the extensive tract we have described, had been purchased from the aborigines by the respective treaties, concluded at Spring Wells, at St. Mary's, and at Saginaw. The government now proposed to extinguish the Indian title to that portion of country, included between the northern boundary line of the state of Indiana, and Grand River of Michigan, embracing in longitude, all that part of the peninsula within these boundaries, which still remained unpurchased.

To effect this object, His Excellency Governor Cass, and Solomon Sibley, Esq. were commissioned by the President, to meet the Indians in council at Chicago, in the summer of 1821; the result of whose efforts is hereafter

to be detailed. Having been appointed to fill the office of secretary for this commission, I deem it sufficient here to remark, that the following sketches have been made under rather favourable circumstances, during the preliminary tour which it became necessary to perform in order to reach the place of treaty; and while the large concourse of Indians, who were drawn together on this occasion, remained encamped in that vicinity.

The usual route, in proceeding to Chicago, is either to follow an Indian trail which leads out from the sources of the river Raisin, and is computed to be a little short of three hundred miles, or, by taking ship and performing the voyage through the lakes, by the way of Mackinac, which somewhat more than doubles the distance. But as government business required the presence of one of the commissioners on the Wabash, it was proposed to reach that place by means of the water communication, connecting that river with the Maumee, and afterward, to extend the route into the Ohio and the Mississippi, and reach Chicago by following up the Illinois to its source.

It was thought this route would present a pleasing variety of western scenery, much of which is connected with the most interesting events of the Indian wars; and other parts promised a field for useful observation. that would fully compensate for the increased time, and personal inconveniences of so circuitous a route. Much of the country proposed to be visited, was but partially known; and a chasm appeared in its general geography and natural history, which it was hoped could, in some