forest, and causing the stunted poplars to shrink away in terror at

its violence. The pelting sand has polished the exposed surfaces of the larger fragments of rocks to such an extent that they reflect the sunlight like a mirror. Their surfaces are sometimes worked into furrows, pits and grotesque inequalities in consequence of the unequal hardness of different portions of the stone. The "Bear" proper is an isolated mound rising a hundred feet above this desolate plateau and singularly covered with evergreens and other trees, presenting from the lake the dark appearance which suggested to the early navigators the idea of a bear in repose.

Empire Bluff, six miles further south, presents a section of another hill which attains an altitude of nearly 400 feet, and the hills at Point Becs Scies reach an elevation but little less.

Seen from the lake, the natural cuts presented between Cathead Point and Carp River, at North Unity, Sleeping Bear and Point Becs Scies look like huge accumulations of blown sand, and convey the impression of a sterile and inhospitable coast, which is quite at variance with the indications of the country a quarter or half a mile back from the shore.

From an eminence about 400 feet high, two or three miles inland from Glen Arbor, on the northeast side of Glen Lake, can be seen one of the most varied and beautiful landscapes to be witnessed in any country, and one which is well worth the pencil of an artist. The view is toward the west, and it should be taken when the sky is clear and the atmosphere is pervaded by that softened haze which fuses the sharper angles of the landscape and throws over it a thin veil of inscrutable vagueness. From our hill summit we look down on the tops of the trees which cover the plain immediately fronting us. On the left is a portion of Glen Lake, its nearer shore concealed by the forest, and the remoter one exposing a white and pebbly margin, from which the verdant hills beyond rise hundreds of feet above the watery mirror in which their forms are so clearly fashioned. In front of us the green hills separate Glen Lake from Lake Michigan, and conceal from view the desert sand fields of Sleeping Bear. Not completely, however, for the naked and glistening flanks of the northern slope stretch out to view beyond the forest covered ridge, and embrace the placid harbor which struggles through the intercepting foliage, and blends with the boundless expanse of the great lake, still beyond. Farther off in the midst of the water, rises the green outline of the South Manitou Island, bearing on its head a glistening cap of sand. Still farther to the right rises the form of the North Manitou, which seems trying to hide itself behind the towering bluff of North Unity, that guards the entrance to the harbor from the north. Two little lakes nestle in the rich woodland that spreads its verdure between us and the harbor, screening themselves like wood nymphs. behind the thick foliage which half conceals their charms. It is doubtful whether a scene superior to this one exists in the country.

Another enchanting view is obtained from the bluff at New Mission. From this point the beholder has an exquisite view of Grand Traverse Bay with its eastern and western arms dissolving in smoke in the dim distance, and the broad lake seen through the mouth of the bay sinking beneath the northern horizon. An emerald fringe of forest skirts the opposite shore; the softened outlines of the peninsula emerge from the misty embrace of the two arms of the bay, and all around the framework of this scene loom from the background the purple hilltops looking perpetually down upon the picture.

FIRST SETTLEMENT.

In 1840 that portion of the state lying west of the county of Omeena and of Grand Traverse Bay, including the Manitou Islands west of said bay, was laid off as a separate county and designated as the county of Leelanaw.

It is claimed by some that the first white settler within the present limits of Leelanaw County was a Frenchman named Nazaros Dona, who lived about two miles south of the present site of Leland, then called Shemacopink. It is not probabłe, however, that he lived there except while engaged in fishing, or that he could be considered a settler of the county.

In 1847 John Lerue came from Chicago to the Manitou Islands in search of health. At that time there was a pier, or wharf, on each of the two islands where passing steamers used to call for wood; the one on the north island being owned by Mr. Pickard, that on the south by Mr. Barton. On the north Manitou were two fishermen without families. The light-house was kept by a man named Clark.

There were no white men at that time in Leelanaw County. Farther south, at the mouth of the Betsey River, there was living a white man named Joseph Oliver, with an Indian wife, who supported his family by trapping and fishing. There were no Indians living on the Manitous, but they frequently came there to trade.

Finding the climate favorable to his health, Mr. Lerue commenced trading with the Indians, and the next year moved his establishment over to the mainland, locating at what was then called Sleeping Bear Bay, but now Glen Arbor, and was probably the first white settler connected with subsequent history.

The most prominent figure in the earliest history of Leelanaw County is that of the late Rev. George N. Smith, a minister of the Congregational Church who had spent ten years in missionary work among the Indians of Black River, in Ottawa County. Visiting the bay in the summer of 1848, in company with some of the mission Indians, he selected a location on the shore, some distance north of the site of the present village of Northport.

In the meantime, the government gave orders to James McLaughlin, Indian farmer for the Waukazoo band of Ottawas, at Old Wing, Allegan County, to remove to Grand Traverse Bay. In obedience to these orders, Mr. McLaughlin left the mouth of the Kalamazoo River on the 27th day of May, 1849, in the schooner H. Merrill, of which he was owner. There were on board his own family, consisting of six persons counting himself, and that of his brother-in-law, William H. Case, consisting of three persons. Entering Black Lake, the vessel proceeded up to the place where the village of Holland is now situated, and received on board Mr. Smith and family, increasing the number of passengers to fifteen. After a tempestuous voyage, the vessel passed Cat Head Point on the morning of the 11th of June, and entered the bay.

The arrival and the first experiences of the party are related by James J. McLaughlin, now a resident of Elk Rapids, and a son of James McLaughlin, as follows:

"It was a beautiful morning in the early part of June, 1849, that the schooner Merrill rounded Cat Head Point, and stood up the bay. She had on board three families that were to make the first commencement where Northport now stands, James McLaughlin, the owner of the vessel, who was in the employ of the government, Rev. George N. Smith, missionary and teacher among the Ottawa Indians and William H. Case, a brother-in-law of the owner of the vessel. These parties had been ordered by the government to Grand Traverse, then almost unknown to white men, with an Indian mission from Allegan County in this state. It seemed to us, as we gazed upon the beautiful scenery that met our eyes at every turn, that we had found the Eldorado.' The forests were unbroken; the axe of the white man had not marred its beauty; the beach of the bay was not strewn with the refuse of the saw-mill, but all lay in the state that dame Nature had kept it, beautiful beyond description. The place decided upon as the point to settle, was near the creek where Northport is. The vessel was

anchored off there the morning of the 11th of June. The men, armed with their axes, went ashore to prepare to build a house. The women and children enjoyed a walk on terra firma once more. Soon the sound of the ax broke the stillness of the forest, logs were cut, the ground cleared and everything ready for the first raising on the west side of Grand Traverse Bay But right here arose a difficulty; the logs were cut for a house nineteen feet square, good sized logs, too, and there was no team to haul them with. We couldn't go to the neighbors and borrow one, for the nearest neighbors were fifteen miles away, and that across the water. But the pioneer is generally equal to the emergency, at least he was in this case. The vessel was now resorted to and blocks and ropes were brought ashore and a purchase rigged, by which, with the help of every man, woman and child that could pull on a rope, the logs were hauled into their places, and the house began to go up, and in the course of two or three days it was ready for the roof. But right at this point we found there was no roof ready, but taking a few boards that were in the vessel, we stuck one end in a crack, the other on a beam, thus obtaining a sort of a shelter for the beds. We learned that lumber could be obtained at the head of the bay and the schooner was started for some, and in a short time we had a very fair house. It seemed a very short time before what should come along but the Fourth of July; the glorious old Fourth, and that must be celebrated in the good old style. But what were we to do? We had no cannon, no flag, nor any of the prerequisites necessary for celebration, but an old man-of-wars-man that had left the vessel to stay with us on shore, brought to light a red flannel shirt, and with a sheet for the white, he soon made a respectable flag. The morning of the Fourth was ushered in with a salute from all the guns we could muster, and our flag was flying. The whole force of the settlement, numbering fifteen all told, started for a picnic on the little island out in the bay. We ate our dinner, spent the day pleasantly and toward night returned home. well pleased with ourselves and everybody else. Thus passed the first Fourth of July celebration in the Grand Traverse Region, a small beginning, but as full of patriotism and love of country as any that has ever been held since. With early fall, preparations were made for a long northern winter, supposing, of course, that in this high latitude, we would have at least six or eight months of winter, but we were agreeably surprised to see the fall months pass away, and no snow until the 12th of December, and instead of the cold dreary winter we had anticipated, it was a mild, pleasant winter that would compare favorably with that of the south part of the state. There was but very little ice in the bay, and not enough at any time to obstruct navigation. The spring opened early, the first of April finding the snow and every vestige of ice removed, and the ground ready for the farmer to go to work, but there were no farmers to go to work

This first house, in what is now the village of Northport, stood on the bank of the creek, about six rods back from the beach. At a later period, it was used for several years as a store by White & Burbeck.

Mr. Smith had at first chosen another location for himself but soon became dissatisfied with it and removed to the spot which became the permanent home of the family. A tent was erected in which they lived while Mr. Smith was building a log house. Mr. Case built a log house east of the creek, also within the village limits.

A considerable number of Indians, some say forty or fifty families, followed their missionary to the Grand Traverse Bay. A log school-house was built, and an Indian village, called Waukazooville in honor of a noted chief, was established on the present site of Northport. During the first years of his residence here, Mr.

Smith gave his time and talents to mission work among the Indians. Afterward he organized a Congregational church among the whites, of which for many years he was the pastor. His death occurred on the 5th day of April, 1881, after a brief illness caused by long continued physical exposure. His remains lie buried near the home he hewed out of the forest, on the shore of the beautiful Grand Traverse Bay.

BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE NELSON SMITH.

A biographical sketch of Mr. Smith's life was prepared soon after his death by E. C. Tuttle, and will be of interest in this connection. It is as follows:

"Fifty-one years ago (1830) deceased began keeping a diary of daily events, reflections, etc., which he continued to do until the day before his fatal illness came upon him. The writer has had access to this mass of memoranda in the preparation of this article, though but a small portion of it has been examined up to this writing. The dates and events here mentioned are therefore accurate and entirely trustworthy.

"The subject of this sketch was born at Swanton, Franklin County, Vermont, Oct. 25, 1807, 'of parents who from agriculture derived their support.' He was of English and Welsh descent. His ancestors figured in the Revolutionary war and that of 1812. When he was six years of age his parents became converted, and this young son first became imbued with religious feeling of an uncommon order for one of his age. During his early boyhood he worked summers upon his father's farm, and attended a district school in winter. This lasted until March, 1827, when the boy had reached his twentieth year. At this time he went to learn the trade of a millwright with Messrs. L. & J. Carpenter, of Highgate, near his birth-place. These men were Universalists, and sought to graft their doctrine upon young Smith. His parents being Calvinists, from which denomination his early ideas of religion had been obtained, made their attempt futile. Their efforts, however, set the young man to studying the Scriptures for himself, which resulted in his conversion in May, 1828. On the 6th of July following he joined the Congregational Church at Swanton. At this point. in his life he says: 'From the time of my conversion I had an impression on my mind that I ought to qualify myself for the ministry. This increased until Dec. 1, 1828, when I was induced to leave my trade and commence study. During the winter I attended a district school. March, 1827, I visited an uncle in Canada, a physician, where I studied chemistry about four weeks, then returned home. After my return, having received encouragement from the Rev E. H. Dorman, I commenced the study of Latin at St. Albans Academy on May 5, 1829, continuing through the season.

"It was during this term that the young prospective preacher became acquainted with Miss Arvilla Almira Powers, of St. Albans, Vermont, who afterward became Mrs. George N. Smith. Of his courtship and marriage he quaintly says: In the fall (1829) I became acquainted with a young lady of this place. She was small of stature and poor in the things of the world, but she possessed a mind capacious and well stored with useful knowledge. She was pious, kind to all and generous-hearted. Such beauties inclined me to offer her my hand Nov. 1 (after considerable acquaintance), which was cordially received, and, Nov. 25, we mutually agreed that when I should have got through my studies we would join our hands for life. The next morning I started for Russelltown, Lower Canada, to the teaching of a winter school.

"Returning from Canada in April, 1880, he writes: "On the 16th I visited my friend in St. Albans, and there found all things agreeable to my mind.' He went to board in her father's family, the lady herself then being engaged in teaching a school at a distance from home. June 15, 1830, he writes in his diary, 'She was

brought home very ill, which gave rise to a series of thoughts unknown to my breast until now.' The condition of her health and other circumstances induced the young couple to conclude to marry at once, the young man's studies to be completed afterward. Accordingly they were married at St. Albans, July 4, 1830, by the Rev. Worthington Smith. Their golden wedding-day occurred last 4th of July, and was duly celebrated at Northport. His life struggles now began. He was poor and compelled to teach school to support his family and prosecute his studies for the ministry. Having married before his ordination he feared the ardent aim of his life might not be reached at all. Some encouraged, others discouraged him; but he struggled on, teaching day and singing schools, his wife and himself economizing in all things save mutual affection. He borrowed theological books, being too poor to buy. His willing wife did sewing and teaching to assist him. They began housekeeping at Alburgh, Vt., where he taught school.

"On June 13, 1831, Mr. Smith joined a temperance society at Alburgh, which was the beginning of his career as an advocate of temperance. On the 12th of the following July he delivered a temperance address at Alburgh, which was his first appearance as a public speaker. From his notes it appears that he must have made an impression upon the anti-temperance element of the town, for it resulted in his being assaulted by what he calls 'bacchanal whelps,' some of whom were arrested, but acquitted by the jury who tried them. This he pronounces an outrage, for the attack was premeditated and cruel.

"In April, 1882, he began attending theological lectures by the Rev. Worthington Smith, a very learned and pious man. But about this time the cry of westward ho! rang through the Green Mountain state. The young couple caught the fever, and resolved to emigrate to the land of magnificent distances and equally broad liberty. Ohio was their objective point at first, but hearing a colony was to start for Michigan Territory in May, 1833, they determined to join it, and did so, starting from Vermont on May 8, of that year. A young sister of Mrs. Smith, now Mrs. Daniel McMartin, of Kalamazoo County, accompanied them. The colony, however, and for some unexplained reason, did not go west, and Mr. Smith and family were obliged to make the trip alone.

"On the 22d day of May, just two weeks after starting, they arrived in Detroit, a portion of the distance having been traveled by canal, the remainder by steamboat, upon which Mrs. Smith and sister took cabin passage, and Mr. Smith deck. Upon arriving at Detroit the hopeful emigrant found that he had but $1.06 left. To meet his expenses while there he sold his watch for $5.50. The trip from Detroit to Gull Prairie, Kalamazoo County, where they were to settle, was made by horse team, over wretched roads, occupying seven days, making a total of twenty-one days from St. Albans, Vt., while now the trip may be made in about as many hours. The cost of the trip was $70, considerably more than was expected. During the next three years Mr. Smith worked at carpentering at and about Gull Prairie for one dollar per day, when not ergaged in teaching a day school. At this early day there was comparatively little building being done in the territory of Michigan, especially in its western portion. Marshall had but two houses and they were of logs. What is now the flourishing city of Jackson then contained but one hotel, and that small and poor. Detroit was a slowgoing town. They were at work upon the University of Michigan building. Kalamazoo was not the large and beautiful place it is

now.

Grand Rapids, now the smartest business city in the state, was scarcely known at that time. Fever and ague flourished everywhere, and everybody had it. For months consecutively entire families would have it, Mr. Smith's among them, and this was one of the appalling pioneer privations of the day. But all the trials

To be

and troubles of the time were not sufficient to drive the young mechanic and teacher from his determination to enter the ministry. He contrived to work days and study nights. ordained was the aim of his ambition. He had not succeeded in reaching his goal when he set out for the west, for reasons which will appear further on. On Friday, Feb. 5, 1836, the year Michigan was admitted to the Union, the young student was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of St. Joseph, Mich., at Bronson, and nine days afterward, 14th, preached his first sermon at Comstock, Kalamazoo County. As a minister he was therefore as old as the state. While stationed in Kalamazoo and Allegan Counties Mr. Smith organized Congregational Churches at Gull Prairie, Otsego, Plainwell, Gun Plains, and other places, in all of which he preached. It was the custom then to have three sermons each Sunday -forenoon, afternoon and evening-and for years Mr. Smith preach three times a Sunday, often to audiences miles apart.

“On Jan. 13, 1837, he was appointed to do missionary work, stationed at Plainwell, receiving a regular salary of $200 per year, and voluntary contributions. On the first day of February following he attended and took an important part in a state convention of the Michigan Total Abstinence Society, at Marshall, Mich., which some of the inost influential men of the state also attended. including late Judge F. J. Littlejohn, late of this circuit. He attended and assisted in organizing the first Congregational Association of Michigan, at Richland (Gull Prairie) March 2, 1837. The constitution and bond of union which was there adopted, with scarcely any alteration, he drafted. About a month later, April 7, 1837, Mr. Smith was ordained by this association, which made him the first Congregational clergyman ordained in Michigan. The Rev. James Ballard was the second. It was during this year that the conviction grew strongly that he was called to labor in behalf of the Indian.

"The first record of this conviction occurs under date of Oct. 7, 1837, in which he admits it had existed for a long time. In the January following, 1838, a meeting of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians was called at Allegan for the purpose of talking over a

scheme for their colonization. Mr. Smith attended and was the A good many of the whites inforemost actor in the movement. terested in the welfare of the Indians, also attended. At this meeting the Western Society of Michigan to benefit Indians was organized, of which Mr. Smith was appointed general agent in the following June. He at once went to work to perfect the colonization scheme, laboring with a will day and night, at all seasons, and not infrequently to the neglect of his own family, so great was his zeal. During this time he traveled much, visiting different tribes. of Indians and raising means wherever possible. By December he had perfected a partial organization of the Indians of Allegan and Ottawa Counties, and on the 23d preached his first sermon to Indians, in a temporary building erected for the purpose near the village of Allegan. Three days later he opened his first Indian school in the same building, with seven scholars in attendance. Their number increased daily, however, until twenty five or thirty attended.

"By the following spring a colony of Indians, consisting of about three hundred families had been organized, and the time arrived for locating it. Here began his labors among the Indians in earnest. In hunting a suitable section it became necessary for him to travel over much of western Michigan, from the Straits of Mackinaw to the southern boundary. One memorable trip was made in canoes from Allegan to La Arbor Croche village, north of Little Traverse Bay, the expedition starting April 18, 1839. This trip, occupying a month and three days, was attended with perils