Old Mackinaw Part 11

New Orleans 46,310 90,000 130,565 180,000 Cincinnati 21,831 47,000 130,739 250,000 St. Louis 5,852 16,469 82,000 180,000 Chicago 100 4,650 29,963 150,000 Pittsburg 12,568 25,000 71,595 125,000 Buffalo 8,653 18,213 42,265 100,000 Montreal 30,000 40,000 55,000 90,000 Louisville 10,341 21,210 43,194 89,000 Detroit 2,222 9,162 21,019 80,000 Milwaukee 50 1,730 20,061 75,000 Cleveland 1,047 6,071 19,377 70,000 Toronto 1,677 13,500 27,500 70,000 Rochester 9,269 20,191 36,409 50,000 Quebec 26,250 32,500 41,200 55,000 Columbus, O. 2,450 6,671 17,882 40,000 Mobile 3,194 12,672 20,515 35,000 Hamilton, C. W. 1,500 4,200 13,000 25,000 Memphis 1,500 3,500 8,839 25,000 Nashville 5,566 6,929 10,478 25,000 Dayton 2,954 6,067 10,977 25,000 Indianapolis 1,000 2,692 8,034 22,000 Wheeling, Va. 5,221 7,885 11,435 20,000 Kingston, C. W. 2,500 5,500 10,000 20,000 Lockport, N. Y. 3,800 6,500 12,323 20,000 Oswego 3,200 4,665 12,205 20,000 Toledo 30 1,229 3,829 20,000 Zanesville 3,000 6,000 12,355 20,000 est. est.

New Albany 1,500 4,000 9,895 20,000 est. est.

Peoria 800 2,000 5,095 20,000 est. est.

Quincy, Ill. 1,000 3,000 6,902 20,000 Galena 2,000 4,000 6,004 20,000 Dubuque 200 1,500 3,108 16,000 Keokuk ... 1,000 2,478 16,000 Davenport ... 500 2,478 12,000 Burlington, Ia. ... 1,000 1,848 12,000 Columbus, Ga. 1,000 4,000 5,052 10,000 Alton, Ill. 250 2,500 3,585 10,000 Steubenville 2,964 5,203 6,140 9,000 Chillicothe 2,840 3,977 7,100 9,000 Grand Rapids, Mich. 300 1,500 3,148 9,000 Huntsville, Ala. 1,200 1,500 2,863 6,000 Adrian, Mich. 200 1,800 3,006 9,000 Ann Arbor 200 2,000 4,868 9,000 Sandusky City 350 2,000 8,500 13,000 Fort Wayne, Ia. 100 1,600 4,282 13,000 Madison, Ia. 2,500 4,500 8,508 13,000 St. Paul ... ... 1,012 15,000 Lafayette, Ia. 200 2,000 6,129 13,000 Maysville, Ky. 1,800 2,741 4,256 9,000 Terre Haute, Ia. 600 2,000 4,900 9,000 Evansville, Ia. 300 1,500 3,235 9,000 Jeffersonville, Ia. 500 2,000 3,487 9,000 Portsmouth, Ohio 1,000 2,000 4,011 9,000 Marietta, O. 1,200 1,815 5,254 9,000 Springfield, Ill. 800 2,579 4,553 9,000 Rock Island City ... 400 1,711 8,000 Chattanooga, Ten. 500 1,000 3,500 8,000 Bytown, or } Ottawa, C. W. } 500 2,000 5,000 10,000 London, C. W. 500 2,000 5,000 10,000 St. Catharines, do. 200 800 4,000 10,000 Galveston, Texas 1,200 2,000 4,177 10,000 Houston, " ... 500 3,000 10,000 Erie, Pa. 1,260 3,500 5,858 10,000 Lexington, Ky. 4,500 6,997 9,180 10,000 Ogdensburg 1,500 3,000 6,500 10,000 Natchez, Miss. 2,000 3,000 4,434 9,000 Three Rivers, C. E. 800 2,000 4,000 8,000 Racine, Wis. ... 1,000 5,111 9,000 Waukesha ... 200 2,313 8,000 Marshall, Mich. 200 1,200 2,822 8,000 Pontiac, " 150 1,300 2,820 8,000 P't Huron " 100 400 2,313 8,000 Jackson " 150 1,000 3,051 6,000 Kalamazoo " 150 900 2,363 6,000 Mineral Pt., Wis. 500 800 2,584 6,000 Kenosha " ... 500 3,055 8,000 Fon du Lac, " ... 1,000 3,451 6,000 Janesville " ... 1,200 2,782 7,000 Beloit " ... 500 2,732 6,000 Madison " ... 100 1,500 7,000 Elgin " ... 100 2,359 5,000 Oshkosh, " ... ... 2,500 6,000 Monroe, Mich. 400 2,000 2,813 5,000 Lansing " ... 100 1,229 5,000 Columbus, Miss. 800 1,500 2,611 5,000 Jacksonville, Ill. 800 1,500 2,745 5,000 Waukegan " ... 800 2,949 6,000 Lasalle " 50 1,000 3,201 6,000 Joliet " ... 1,000 2,659 6,000 Jefferson City, Mo. 1,000 2,000 3,000 5,000 St. Joseph " ... 1,000 2,557 5,000 Independence " ... 500 3,500 6,000 Iowa City, Iowa ... ... 1,582 5,000 Muscatine " ... 400 2,540 6,000 Springfield, Ohio 1,080 2,094 5,108 8,000 Newark " 1,000 2,705 3,654 7,000 Hamilton " 800 1,409 3,210 7,000 Lancaster " 1,000 2,120 3,483 5,000 Akron " 800 1,664 3,266 6,000 Mt, Vernon " 800 2,363 3,711 7,000 Tiffin " ... 728 2,718 7,000 Urbana " 400 1,070 3,414 6,000 Ma.s.sillon " 600 1,300 2,697 5,000 Lawrenceburg, Ia. 600 2,000 3,487 6,000 Richmond, Ia. 500 1,000 1,443 5,000 Knoxville, Tenn. 1,800 ... 2,076 6,000

The preceding table is instructive, showing, as it does, the steady and rapidly increasing tendency of the people of the plain to seek a home in cities and villages, notwithstanding the great temptation which fertile, cheap, and easily-improved lands hold out to become tillers of the soil and growers of cattle. Stock farming is largely remunerative, but our western people--wild and uncultivated as they are supposed to be by those unacquainted with their true character--prefer homes where the advantages of education and social intercourse is a constant enjoyment. Nowhere in the world are educational establishments on a better footing or more universally accessible than in some of the new States of the centre, as in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and other States.

CHAPTER XII.

Michigan Agricultural Reports for 1854 -- Professor Thomas's Report -- Report of J. S. Dixon -- Products of States -- Climate -- Army Meteorological Reports.

From the Agricultural Reports of the State of Michigan we take the following:--

"From old Fort Mackinaw to the Manistee River, the land immediately upon the lake sh.o.r.e, and not unfrequently extending back for many miles, is considerably elevated, and occasionally rises very abruptly to the height of from one hundred to three or four hundred feet. The country (more particularly the northern portion) continues to rise as we proceed into the interior, until it attains an elevation equal to any other portion of the peninsula.

"This is more particularly the case in the rear of Traverse Bay, where this elevation continues for many miles into the interior, giving to the landscape a very picturesque appearance when viewed from some of the small lakes, which abound in this as well as in the more southern portion of the State.

"The tract of country under consideration is based on limestone, sandstone, and shales, which are covered, excepting at a few points, with a deposit of red clay and sand, varying in thickness from a few inches to more than four hundred feet. The interior of the northern portion of the peninsula, west of the meridian, is generally more rolling than that on the east. It is interspersed with some extensive cedar swamps and marshes, on the _alluvial_ lands, and in the vicinity of heads of streams and some of the lakes. The upland is generally rolling, has a soil of clay, loam and sand, and is clad with evergreen timber, intermixed with tracts of beech and maple, varying in extent from a few acres to several townships. Several of the most extensive of these tracts are in the vicinity of the Cheboygan and Tahweegon rivers, their lakes and tributary streams. There are also large tracts of beech and maple timber lying between the head of Grand Traverse Bay, and the Manistee and Muskeegon rivers.

"The elevated portion of land on the sh.o.r.e of Lake Michigan, known as the 'Sleeping Bear' as well as Manitou Island, (see lat.i.tude 45) which, when viewed from a distance, has the appearance of sand, is found to be composed of alternate layers of highly marly clay and sand. The clay is of a deep red color, and in many places its strata are much contorted.

"The hilly region, to which allusions have been made, is mostly heavily timbered with beech, maple, ba.s.s, oak, ash, elm, birch, etc., interspersed with an occasional cedar swamp. In the vicinity of Grand Traverse Bay, this character of country extends into the interior for many miles, bordering on a series of small and beautiful lakes, which vary in length from two to eighteen miles, and are generally free from marsh and swamp. This country, as also that in the interior from Little Traverse Bay, is well adapted to the purposes of agriculture.

"Pa.s.sing south of this rolling district, the country becomes less elevated and more variable, the soil a.s.suming a more sandy character, and being generally clad with evergreen timber. There are, however, exceptions to this in some fine tracts of beech and maple near the lake coast, also, in the vicinity of some of the streams in the interior.

"It is nevertheless true, that there are many extensive swamps and marshes in this part of the peninsula, but it is doubted whether, upon the whole, they exceed the quant.i.ty or extent of those of the more southern part of the State.

"In point of soil and timber, this portion of the State is not inferior to the more southern--and such are the advantages it offers to the settler, that the day is not distant when it will be sought as a place of residence by the agriculturist.

"The beauty of its lakes and streams is not anywhere surpa.s.sed. Such is the transparency of their waters as to permit objects to be distinctly seen at the depth of more that thirty feet.

"That part of the peninsula situate north of Grand River is usually regarded by many of the inhabitants of the more southern part of the State, as being either an impenetrable swamp, or a sandy barren waste, and as possessing too rigorous a climate to admit of its successful application to purposes of agriculture.

"This is an erroneous opinion, and one which will most certainly be corrected, as the facts with regard to this part of our State come more fully to be known. The inhabitants of Flat, Royale, Muskegon and White Rivers, and the Ottawa Indians, living on the Grand and Little Traverse Bays, and on the Manistee River, have extensive cultivated fields, which uniformly produce abundant crops.

"The country on Flat and Royale Rivers is generally rolling, interspersed with level and k.n.o.bby tracts; but none is so rough as to prevent it from being successfully cultivated. The timber in the vicinity of the streams consists of black, white, and burr oak, which is scattering, and forms what is denominated openings and plains; small tracts of pine barrens, beech, maple and oak lands, interspersed with tracts of white pine.

"Settlements are rapidly advancing in this part of our State, and much of the land under cultivation produces excellent crops of wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, etc., and so far as experience has been brought to the test, is not inferior to, or more subject to early frosts in the fall, than more southern counties of the State.

"The soil varies from a light sand to a stiff clay loam.

"The country on the Muskegon is rolling, and may be considered as divided into beech and maple land, pine lands, pine barrens, oak openings, plains and prairies. Small tracts of the latter are situated near the forks of the river, about forty-five miles from its mouth, and between thirty and forty-five miles north of the Grand River.

"Crops of corn, oats, wheat, etc., were here as flourishing as those of the more southern part of State. The soil of the prairies and openings is sandy, while that of the beech and maple lands is a sand and clay loam.

"The Indians on Grand and Little Traverse Bays and vicinity, also obtain good crops of corn, potatoes, squashes, etc. Some of the most intelligent Indians informed me that they were seldom injured by frosts in the fall or spring. They also have many apple trees which produce fruit in considerable quant.i.ties.

"The soil is strictly a warm one, and, exposed as the whole country, bordering on Lake Michigan, is to the influence of the southern winds during summer and parts of spring and fall, it seldom fails to be productive."

Professor Thomas, Geologist, has placed in our hands the following report of the Geology of Mackinaw, Michigan:

"From the site of old Fort Mackinaw, at the very extremity of the peninsula, south to the Manistee River, a direct distance of about one hundred and forty miles, the immediate sh.o.r.es of the lake are almost invariably considerably elevated, sometimes rising abruptly to a height of from three to four hundred feet.

"The soil of the vicinity, in consequence of the large amount of calcareous matter which enters into its composition, possesses a fertility that a superficial observer would scarcely ascribe to it.

"The limestone chiefly consists of an irregular a.s.semblage of angular fragments united by a tufaceous cement. These fragments usually appear at first sight to have a compact structure, but a more minute examination shows them to contain _minute_ cells, sufficiently large to admit water, which, by the action of frost, subjects the rock to rapid disintegration. Portions of the rock may, nevertheless, be selected partially free from this difficulty, and which are possessed of sufficient compactness to render them of value as a coa.r.s.e building stone; horn-stone, striped jasper (imperfect); hog-toothed spar, calcareous spar, and fluor spar, are imbedded in the rock, although the latter is of rare occurrence.

"Lime rock again occurs at the Straits of Mackinaw, and in the vicinity, it appears upon the Island of Mackinac, together with the Bois Blanc, Round, and St. Martin's Islands, as also upon the northern peninsula north from Mackinaw.

"Gypsum occurs on the St. Martin's group of islands, and also upon the northern peninsula between Green Bay and Mackinac.

"MACKINAW LIMESTONE.--The rock is of a light color, and the fragments of which it is composed frequently contain numberless minute cells.

These were undoubtedly once filled with spar, which has been washed out of the exposed part of the rock by the action of water. The upper part is unfit for building purposes, but the lower is more compact, and has marks of regular stratification.

"COAL.--The coal is highly bituminous, a character in common with all that has been seen in the State, and it may safely be said, that none other may be looked for in the peninsula.

"From the facts now before me, I am led to hope that coal will be found in the elevated hills of the northern part of the peninsula, easterly from Little Traverse Bay, a circ.u.mstance which, should it prove to be the case, will add much to the value of that portion of the State."--_Houghton Geological Reports of Michigan._

"Foster and Whitney, United States Geologists, in their Reports to the Government, laid down the Onondago Salt Group of rocks as extending over a portion of the southern part of the northern peninsula of Michigan, not a great distance from Mackinaw, and also as existing on the St. Martin's and Mackinaw Islands.

"ONONDAGA SALT GROUP.--As a whole, it is an immense ma.s.s of argillo-calcareous shaly rocks, inclosing veins and beds of gypsum; hence this has been designated by some as the 'gypseous shales.'

"Four divisions have been distinguished in the description of the Onondaga Salt Group, though the lines of separation are by no means well defined.

"1. Red and greenish shales below.

"2. Green and red marl, shale, and shaly limestone with some veins of gypsum.

"3. Shaly, compact, impure limestone, with shale and marl, embracing two ranges of plaster beds with hopper-shaped cavities between.

"4. Drab-colored, impure limestone with fibrous cavities; the 'magnesian deposit of Vanuxem.' Of these, the third is the only one that has yielded gypsum in profitable quant.i.ties. The included ma.s.ses of gypsum, though, for the most part, even-bedded at their base, are usually very irregular at their upper surface, often conical. The plaster beds are supposed to be separations by molecular attraction from the marl.

"This third division contains not only the gypseous beds, but is most probably the source of all the salt so extensively manufactured at Onondaga, Cayuga, and Madison; at least Vanuxem informs us that, except in these gypseous beds, there is no evidence of salt existing in the solid state in any of the other divisions of the Onondaga Salt Group.

"The fourth division is remarkable for a fine columnar structure, or needle-formed cavities, dispersed through the ma.s.s.

"In the middle counties of New York, the entire thickness of the Onondaga Salt Group must be from six hundred to a thousand feet.

Notwithstanding its great thickness, this formation is very barren in fossils. The corals and sh.e.l.ls of the Niagara group suddenly ceased to exist, perhaps, as Hall suggests, being overwhelmed by a sudden outbreak of a buried vulcano at the bottom of the ocean, by which the waters became surcharged not only with argillaceous sediment, but became contaminated, either with free sulphuric acid, or sulphate of magnesia and soda.

"The country through which the Onondaga Salt Group extends, is usually marked by a series of low, gravelly hills, and clayey valleys, on which a stunted growth of timber prevails, known by the name of 'Oak Openings.' Small portions of sulphate of strontia, galena, and blende, with rhomb spar, occur in the upper portion of the group. Gypsum and salt are, however, the only minerals of economical value: of the former many thousand tons are excavated. Several acidulous springs issuing from these deposits, have been found to contain free sulphuric acid."--_D. D. Owen's Review of the N. Y. Geological Reports._

Jules Marcou, in his Geology of the United States, places the northern portion of the southern peninsula of Michigan in the Terrain Devonian.

Report of J. S. Dixon and others, on Grand Traverse Bay, p. 523, in Michigan Agricultural Reports for 1834, says:

"The atmosphere is moist and wholesome--no disease, and healthy as any portion of country. It is a well established fact, that water cools first on the surface, then sinks while the warm water rises, and consequently ice never forms till the whole body of water has been cooled to thirty degrees. Now, from this fact, the philosopher will at once deduce the climate of this region. Traverse Bay is from one hundred to nine hundred feet deep and the water never cools to thirty-two degrees till the middle of February, and in Lake Michigan in the middle never, and so long as the water in these continuous reservoirs is warmer than the air, the former must obviously warm the latter.