CHAPTER V.

PROGRESS OF THE FRENCII TOWARD MICHIGAN-THE STRUGGLES AND ADVENTURES OF THE MISSIONARIES LIFE AND DEATH OF THE GREAT AND GOOD MARQUETTE-PIONEER LIFE.

HAVING followed the history of New France to the end of the French rule in Canada, we will now return and trace the westward movements of civilization to the borders of Michigan.

The French settlers who had established themselves upon the banks of the St. Lawrence were never wanting in zeal and enterprise in extending their explorations westward. It was early the avowed object of the government to carry the cross of the Catholic Church to the remotest bounds of the western territory, and thus to secure the advantages of its great resources. The principal directors of the ecclesiastical establishments that were collected at Quebec found it their policy to become informed of the condition of the domain of the great lakes, and as early as 1634 the Jesuits Breboeuf and Daniel joined a party of Hurons, who were returning from that walled city, and, passing through to the Ottawa River, raised the first hut of the Society of Jesus upon the shore of Lake Iroquois, a bay of Lake Huron, where they daily rang a bell to call the savages to prayer, and performed all those kind offices which were calculated to secure the confidence and affection of the tribes on the lake shore. In order to confirm the missions a college was founded in Quebec during the following year, and a hospital was established at the same place for the unfortunate of every class. A plan for the establishment of missions, not only among the Algonquins of the north, but also south of Lake Michigan and in Michigan, was formed within six years after the discovery of Canada.

Cartier was the pioneer, but Champlain was the founder of the French power upon this continent. For twenty years succeeding

the commencement of the seventeenth century he was zealously employed in planting and rearing upon the banks of the St. Lawrence that infant colony which was destined to extend its branches into Michigan, and finally to contest with its great rival the sovereignty of North America.

We shall not here attempt to trace the progress of these remote settlements, nor to mark the alternations of prosperity and adversity. They are in this work peculiarly interesting to us only as they exhibit the gradual and successive steps by which a knowledge of the lake country was acquired, and its first settlements founded. As the tide of French power flows toward Michigan, we become more anxious to trace its principles and progress, and to inquire into the motives and means of the hardy adventurers who were every year ascending still further and further the boundless waters before them. It was early discovered that a profitable traffic in furs could be carried on with the Indians, and the excitement of gain prompted those engaged in it to explore every avenue by which the camp and hunting grounds of the Indians could be approached. A better and nobler feeling, too, brought to this work a body of learned and pious men, who left behind them their own world, with all its pleasures and attachments, and sought in the depths of remote and unknown regions objects for the exercise of their zeal and piety. The whole history of human character furnishes no more illustrious examples of selfdevotion than are to be found in the records of the establishments of the Roman Catholic missionaries, whose faith and fervor enabled them to combat the difficulties around them in life, or to triumph over them in death.

By the operation of these causes a knowledge of the great features of the continent was gradually acquired, and the circle of French power and influence enlarged. As early as 1632, seven years only after the foundations of Quebec were laid, the missionaries had penetrated to Lake Huron by the route of Grand River, and Father Sagard has left an interesting narrative of their toils and sufferings upon its bleak and sterile shores. The Wyandots had been driven into that region from the banks of the St. Lawrence, by their inveterate enemies, the Iroquois, whose valor,

enterprise and success constitute the romance of Indian history. The good priests accompanied them in this expatriation, and if they could not prevent their sufferings, they shared them. No portion of those wide domains was secure from the conquering

COL. WM. M. FENTON..

WM. M. FENTON, one of the greatest of Michigan men, was born on the 19th of December, 1808, in Norwich, Chenango county, New York. Here his father, Hon. Joseph S. Fenton, was one of the first citizens in wealth and social position, being a prominent banker, and an elder in the Presbyterian church, of which he was one of the main pillars of support. His mother, a member of the same church, was distinguished for devoted piety and an earnest zeal in every good work.

William was the eldest of nine children, and in early life, while under the parental roof, was remarkable for his integrity and great love for knowledge, which made him a most indefatigable student, so that when

Iroquois, and they pursued their discomfited enemies with relentless fury. Little would be gained by an attempt to describe the events of this exterminating warfare. "The details are as afflicting," says General Cass, "as any recorded in the long annals of human vengeance and human sufferings." Villages were sacked; and by night and by day, in winter and in summer, there was neither rest nor safety for the vanquished. The character of the missionaries did not exempt them from a full participation in the misfortunes of their converts, and many of them were murdered at the foot of the altar, with the crucifix in their hands and the name of God upon their lips. Some were burned at the stake, with all those horrible accompaniments of savage ingenuity which add intensity to the pangs of the victims and duration to their sufferings. But nothing could shake the fortitude of these apostles. They lived the life of saints, and died the death of martyrs. It is now difficult to conceive what, however. is now well authenticated, that two hundred years ago the great central point of Indian influence and intelligence was upon the southern shore of

but fourteen years of age he passed his examination, and entered Hamilton College. From this institution he graduated at the head of his class in 1827, at the age of eighteen, when the most of students are only prepared to enter. From the college halls he went into the banking house of his father. The confinement consequent upon this business was too close for his feeble health, and after a service of but a few months, he entered upon a scafaring life, shipping from Charleston, S. C., as a common sailor. Four years later he left this occupation, having acquired that physical culture and discipline, and gained that knowledge of human nature, which proved of great service to him through the remainder of his life. At the time of quitting his marine life he was mate of a merchantman, and was offered the captaincy of a similar craft.

In April, 1834, he married a daughter of Judge James Birdsall, of Norwich, and in July of the same year emigrated to Michigan, at the age of twenty-six. After residing for two years at Pontiac, being engaged in mercantile pursuits, he removed to Genesee county, and purchased the land where the village of Fenton now stands.

In 1839 he commenced the study of law in Fentonville, and in 1841, with Andrew Parsons, afterwards Governor, was admitted to the bar. Soon after he engaged in politics, and his talents as a lawyer, and his extensive knowledge of men and things, at once made him a leader in

Lake Superior, and far toward its western extremity. This was the seat of the Chippewa power, and here was burning the eternal · fire whose extinction foretold, if it did not occasion a national calamity. "No fact," says General Cass, "is better established in the whole range of Indian history, than the devotion of some, if not all the tribes, to this characteristic feature of the ancient superstition of the Magi. And it proves their separation from the primitive stock at an early day, when this belief was prevalent among the eastern nations. All the ceremonies attending the preservation of this fire yet lived in Indian tradition, and it was still burning when the French first appeared among them. There were male and female guardians, to whose care it was committed; and when we recollect the solemn, and ritual, and dreadful imprecations with which the same pledge of Roman safety was guarded and preserved, it ought not to surprise us that such importance was attached by the Indians, whose duration was to be coeval with their national existence. The augury has proved but too true. The fire is extinct, and the power has departed from them. We have trampled on the one and overthrown the other."

the Democratic party, of which he was a member. In 1844 he was the candidate of his party for representative in the State Legislature, but was defeated. At the next election, however, he was chosen Senator from the district comprising the counties of Oakland, Macomb, Genesee and Livingston. He was twice elected Lieutenant-Governor, serving from 1848 to 1852 inclusive, while Governors Ransom and Barry were in office. He presided with dignity and ability over the Senate, and had the party to which he belonged continued in power, he would undoubtedly have been raised to the office of Governor. He was twice nominated for Circuit Judge by his party, and had he been elected he would have secured the same praise which he so unanimously received while performing other responsible public duties.

In 1850 Mr. Fenton removed to Flint, where he resided until his death. He was appointed Register of the Land Office in that city by President Pierce, in 1852, and held the position until the office was removed to Saginaw. During the year 1856 he traveled through Europe with his family, for the purpose of improving his wife's failing health. Returning, he was elected Mayor of Flint in 1858.

When the first murmurings of the late civil war were indistinctly heard throughout our land, the voice of Mr. Fenton was raised far above