passed an act establishing a board of commissioners, to examine and settle these conflicting claims; and, in 1807, another act was passed, confirming, to a certain extent, the titles of all such as had been in possession of the lands then occupied by them from

PEAR TREES IN THE OLD JESUIT GARDEN.

the year 1796, when the Territory was surrendered, up to the date of that act. Other acts were subsequently passed, extending the same conditions to the settlements on the upper lakes.

In addition to the settlements along the shores of the Detroit and St. Clair rivers, and the lake of the latter name, where there

was a continued line of cottages, with farms adjoining, containing orchards of pear and apple trees, planted at an early date, and the old posts on the island of Mackinaw, at Ste. Marie, and at St. Joseph, the French colonists had a line of cabins on the River Raisin, where the city of Monroe now stands. The interior of the country was but little known, except by those who were engaged in the fur trade, and these were interested in representing it in as unfavorable a light as possible. No portion of the public domain had yet been brought into the market. But few American settlers had, therefore, ventured into this region, though the adjoining State of Ohio had already acquired a considerable population. Such was the condition of Michigan just before the Tecumseh war, a full account of which is given in a previous chapter.

After this contest, Michigan emerged into a new existence. Colonel Cass, who had served with much zeal during the war, was appointed Governor of the Territory; and under his administration it gradually advanced in prosperity.

But we must not enter upon the successful administration of Governor Cass, without following General Hull, the first Governor of the Territory, a little further. In our last mention of him, he was being conveyed to Montreal, a prisoner of war. We next find him before a court-martial, at Albany, New York. The court convened January 3d, 1814, with a full board, and General Dearborn was the President. No objection was taken to the constitution of this court by the accused. The session of the court was protracted, and every facility afforded to General Hull to present his defense. The Judge-Advocate, Mr. Van Buren, was remarkably fair and impartial in conducting the examination. The charges were three in number: treason, cowardice, and neglect of duty. The court acquitted the accused of the high crime of treason. As to the other charges, the court, upon mature deliberation, found General Hull guilty, and sentenced him to be shot; but, by reason of his services in the war of the Revolution, and his advanced age, earnestly recommended him to the mercy of the President. The President approved of the finding of the court, but remitted the execution of the sentence, and dismissed him from the service.

The civil administration of Governor Hull presents but few salient points. His military administration, ending, as it did, by the ignominious surrender of Detroit to a British force far inferior to his own, was fraught with irretrievable ruin to himself, as well as temporary disgrace to the American arms.

What was the actual moving cause of this disgraceful capitulation will probably never be known, till the final day. Time, however, has somewhat softened the harsh judgment which was passed upon him at the time; and some of the earlier impressions, which attributed his conduct to money, the price of treason, have been removed. But the most that charity can do is to attribute it to cowardice and imbecility. Efforts have, from time to time, been made to rescue his name from obloquy; but such efforts have universally proved failures. It is enough for an American to know that he surrendered his command to a force of less than one-third his own strength. General Hull's principal excuse was, that he was short of ammunition and provisions. He does not allege that he was destitute-the contrary was well known to be the case— but that he apprehended that he had not enough to last till the final issue of the campaign. But this, instead of being an excuse for an unconditional surrender, was the stronger reason for promptitude and energy. After ammunition and provisions fail, the worst disaster that can befall an army is that which he forced upon his command before a blow was struck.

The situation was briefly this: He had been instructed to protect Detroit. The invasion of Canada was left discretionary with him. He did neither. It is true he crossed the river, but only to make a disgraceful retreat. When followed, and summoned to surrender, he complied with the demand; only holding out long enough to increase the pomposity of the enemy, and provoke the curses of his command. His flight commenced at the bridge of the Canards, and terminated in the American fortress. His retreat was without a reason, and his surrender without a parallel.

Nothing but the memory of other and prouder days, and gallant deeds, can rescue the name of Hull from unmitigated contempt; and the kindest judgment which a dispassionate posterity can pronounce upon him is to ascribe his errors to cowardice and imbecility.

CHAPTER XXIX.

GENERAL CASS APPOINTED GOVERNOR - DEFENSELESS CONDITION OF THE TERRITORY-INDIAN DEPREDATIONS AROUND DETROIT-BRAVERY AND ENERGY OF GENERAL CASS-HIS TREATY WITH THE INDIANS -CONDITION OF MICHIGAN AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR-EXPEDITION OF GENERAL CASS TO THE UPPER PENINSULA-DISCOVERIES-PROSPERITY OF THE TERRITORY UNDER CASS' ADMINISTRATION-THE TREATY OF CHICAGO-EXECUTION OF INDIANS.

A NEW era now dawned upon the Territory of Michigan. General Lewis Cass, who had served, with great credit and distinction, through the war of 1812, was appointed Governor of the Territory. At that time its prosperity and advancement may be said to have commenced. Up to this time, there had been no inducement whatever for the immigration of people from the Eastern States. The country had just emerged from a bloody and devastating war, and the public lands had not been brought into market. The beautiful and fertile lands of the lower peninsula, now studded with happy homes and flourishing cities, and traversed in every direction by the locomotive, were traversed only by wild beasts, and wilder men. The streams, now white with the sails of noble ships, and dotted with manufactories, were navigated only by the bark canoe. The feeble settlements along the frontier had been converted into scenes of desolation; not a road had been constructed through the interior; and there was no means of access to the country except by the rivers and lakes, and the military road along the Detroit river. The British garrisons were broken up, it is true, and Tecumseh was no more, but the people were by no means free from the calamities of war. The ill feeling of the Indians continued unsubdued, and their propensities to murder, rob and plunder, were still as great as when Tecumseh led them to battle. The British flag still waved over Mackinaw, and the intermediate country was filled with fur

traders who regarded their interests as antagonistic to the United States.

At this time, it must be remarked, all of the province of Canada which had been held in submission by the British army, was

ISAAC NEWTON SWAIN, one of the earliest pioneer settlers of the interior and western parts of the lower peninsula of Michigan, was born near Sackett's Harbor, in Jefferson county, New York, November 20th,