Old Mackinaw Part 8

In the same manner, an immense forest extends over the upper part of Minnesota, while far to the northwest in the British possessions, extend deep forests of pine, spruce, and hemlock. It is evident, therefore, that on the great current of the Straits of Mackinaw, there will float for generations to come, all the timber and lumber, which are necessary for the markets of commerce, or the uses of a growing population.

Nor are the fisheries to be neglected, in any right estimate of the natural resources of that region. Not only do the one hundred thousand square miles of lakes and streams, furnish illimitable quant.i.ties of fish; but they furnish varieties, which are nowhere else to be found, and which an epicurean taste has long since p.r.o.nounced among the richest luxuries of the palate. The lake trout, the Mackinaw trout, the Muskelunge, and the white fish, are celebrated throughout America.

Good fis.h.i.+ng grounds occur all along the north sh.o.r.e of Lake Superior, affording a bountiful supply. On the south sh.o.r.e, there are fisheries at White Fish Point, Grand Island near the Pitcairn's Rodes, Keweenaw Point, La Point, and Apostles' Islands, and at different stations on Isle Royal, where large quant.i.ties are taken and exported. Mackinac Island alone exports yearly a quarter million of dollars' worth.

The site of Old Mackinaw, now the county seat of Emmet county, and its surroundings, belonged to the Government of the United States until the year 1853, when Edgar Conkling, Esq., of Cincinnati, realizing its importance as a vast commercial centre, and one of the finest positions for a great city, formed a company consisting of seven persons, and entered at the Land Office in Ionia, Michigan, near one thousand eight hundred acres. In 1857 that portion embracing the ancient site of Old Mackinaw was surveyed and divided into lots. Mr.

Conkling has, recently, become the sole proprietor of the city, and intends devoting his energies to its development. A pamphlet, published some time since, describes it as follows:

"The streets of the city are laid out eighty feet in width, and the avenues from a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet respectively. In the deed of dedication to the public, of these streets and avenues, provision is made for side-walks fifteen feet in width on each side, to be forever un.o.bstructed by improvements of any kind, shade trees excepted, thus securing a s.p.a.cious promenade worthy of a place destined to become a princ.i.p.al resort for health and pleasure.

Provision is also made for the proper use of the streets and avenues by railroad companies adequate to the demands of the business of a city. The lots, with the exception of those in fractional blocks, are fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, thus affording ample room for permanent, convenient, and ornamental improvement."

The park, now laid off and dedicated to the city, embraces the grounds of Old Fort Mackinaw, sacred in the history of the country. These grounds, now in their natural condition, are unequaled for beauty of surface, location, soil, trees, etc., by any park in any city in the country, and when the skillful hand of the horticulturist has marked its outline and threaded it with avenues and paths, pruned its trees, and carpeted its surface with green, it will present the very perfection of all that makes a park delightful. The character of the soil, being a sandy loam, with sand and gravel underlying it, renders it capable of the easiest and most economical improvement, securing walks always dry, hard, and smooth. The park, with suitable blocks and lots for county and city purposes, such as public buildings, schoolhouses, etc., will be duly appropriated to those uses, whenever the proper authorities are prepared to select suitable sites; and lots for churches, inst.i.tutions of learning, and charity, will be fully donated to parties contemplating early improvements. Thus the proprietor proposes to antic.i.p.ate, by avoiding the errors of older cities, the wants of Mackinaw city in perpetuity, and free forever its citizens from taxation for any grounds required for the public good.

He also designs to place it in the power of the General Government, to secure, by like donation at an early day, the grounds necessary for such fortifications as the wants of the country and commerce may require, on the simple condition of speedy improvement. This liberal policy will best promote the true interests of the city and country, and at the same time be productive of pecuniary profit to the proprietors and all who may make investments at that point.

The proprietor intends also to expend a large portion of the income from sales in providing for the public wants by the construction of docks at the most important points, and the establishment of ferries, for which he has purchased the land on the opposite side of the straits. He intends to make loans also, as his means will justify, to aid parties in the establishment of manufactories.

Building materials of great variety and in abundance are at hand.

Lumber can be had for the mere cost of preparation, and the soil, at no distant point, is suitable for making bricks; while for immediate use, Milwaukee can furnish the articles of the best kind in any quant.i.ties. The sh.o.r.es of Lake Superior abound with exhaustless quant.i.ties of granite, sandstone and marble; the limestone and sand are on the spot.

Three fine harbors adjoin Mackinaw; the one on the east being the most s.p.a.cious, and the best protected. The new United States charts show the depth of water sufficient for vessels of the largest size navigating the lakes. As many as thirty vessels have been at anchor in this harbor. The country in the rear of Mackinaw rises gradually until, at the distance of a mile or two, it rises into an elevation of high table land, from points of which there is a fine view of the straits and surrounding islands. A mountainous ridge extends up to within two miles of Mackinaw, covered with a dense forest of hard wood. The southern extremity of this range reaches to the head waters of the Grand and Saginaw rivers. From two to ten miles south of Mackinaw are several beautiful lakes, surrounded by a rich, warm soil of great fertility and covered with a heavy forest of hard wood, some of which has attained a gigantic growth. These lakes abound with fish of different varieties. Turtles have been taken from them, measuring from one and a half to two feet in diameter. Almost every kind of game can be found in the woods bordering upon these lakes, such as the black bear, racc.o.o.n, martin, fox, lynx, rabbit, ducks, partridges and pigeons.

CHAPTER XI.

The entrepot of a vast commerce -- Surface drained -- Superiority of Mackinaw over Chicago as a commercial point -- Exports and imports -- Michigan the greatest lumber-growing region in the world -- Interminable forests of the choicest pine -- Facilities for market -- Annual product of the pineries -- Lumbering, mining and fis.h.i.+ng interests -- Independent of financial crises -- Mackinaw, the centre of a great railroad system -- Lines terminating at this point -- North and South National Line -- Canada grants -- Growth of northwestern cities -- Future growth and prosperity of Mackinaw -- Chicago -- Legislative provisions for opening roads in Michigan -- The Forty Acre Homestead Bill -- Its provisions.

The physical resources of this region are of such a nature and variety as to make Mackinaw city the entrepot of a vast commerce. This will appear, if we consider that it is the nearest point of that extensive district, including the entire north of the lakes inaccessible to Chicago. When all the lines of internal communication are completed, and the different points on the lakes settled down upon, then the real limits of Mackinaw will drain a geographical surface of three hundred thousand square miles; deducting the surface of the lakes from which, there will remain two hundred and eighty thousand square miles of country, with all the resources of agriculture and mining in the most extraordinary degree. It will be nearly three-fold that which can be drained by Chicago, and in point of territory, whether of quant.i.ty or quality, Mackinaw is vastly superior, as a commercial point. With the exception of a small portion of the mineral region, the agricultural advantages of Michigan, Upper Wisconsin, Minnesota, Canada West, and the Superior country, are at least equal, at the present time, to the district s.h.i.+pping at Chicago, while it is more extensive, and will have a large home market in a country affording diversity of employment. Nothing can be more obvious, than the superior advantages of Mackinaw, as a manufacturing point, over any other on the lake coast.

The value of exports and imports which flow through the Straits of Mackinaw and the Saut St. Mary was estimated a year or two since at over _one hundred millions of dollars_. But, who can estimate a commerce which every year increases in many fold? In 1856, there were sent through the St. Mary Ca.n.a.l 11,000 tons of raw iron, 1,040 tons of blooms, and 10,452,000 lbs. of copper; and the commercial value of what pa.s.sed through the ca.n.a.l amounted to upward $5,000,000. But perhaps the most correct idea of the rapid increase of commerce in Lake Superior may be taken from the arrivals at Superior City for the last three years, taken from the Superior Chronicle of January, 1857.

In 1854 there were two steamboats and five sail vessels. In 1855 there were twenty-three steamers, and ten sail vessels; and in 1856 forty steamers and sixteen sail vessels.

We thus see that in three years the increase was seven-fold. It is scarcely possible to imagine the limits of northwestern commerce on the lake, when a few years shall have filled up with inhabitants the surrounding territories.

According to the testimony of Senator Hatch, made on the floor of Congress on the 25th of February, 1859, there were over one thousand six hundred vessels navigating the northwestern lakes, of which the aggregate burden was over four hundred thousand tons. They were manned by over thirteen thousand seamen, navigating over five thousand miles of lake and river coast, and transporting over six hundred millions of exports and imports, being greater than the exports and imports of the United States.

The State of Michigan is the greatest lumber-growing region in the world, not only on account of its interminable forests of the choicest pine, but in the remarkable facilities for getting it to market. With a lake coast, on the lower peninsula alone, of over one thousand miles--with numberless watercourses debouching at convenient distances into her vast inland seas--she enjoys advantages which mighty empires might envy. Her white-winged carriers are sent to almost every point of the compa.s.s with the product of her forests, which, wherever it may go, is the sign of improvement and progress, while by the large expenditures involved in the manufacture, and the employment of thousands of hardy laborers, the general prosperity is materially enhanced, and a market opened within her own borders for a considerable share of the surplus production of her own soil.

The annual product of the pineries alone amount to the sum of _ten and a half millions of dollars_. The lumbering, mining, and fis.h.i.+ng interest combine to furnish by far the best home market in the Union, and one which in seasons when a large surplus is not compelled to seek a market, can boast its independence of the "bulls" and "bears" of the great commercial metropolis. The dense forests in the interior of the State have not yet been reached, and when the contemplated roads are made, a field will be presented for the investment of capital of a most remunerative character.

The government has already taken such steps as will soon make Mackinaw the centre of a great railroad system. We need only refer to the actual facts in order to make this clear. Congress, by an act pa.s.sed in 1855-6, granted to the State of Michigan a large body of land for railroad purposes, designating four routes. 1. From Little Noquet Bay to Marquette, in the Superior country. 2. From Amboy, on the State-line of Ohio, through Lansing to or near Mackinaw. 3. From Grand Rapids to Mackinaw. 4. From Grand Haven to Port Huron. It will be seen that this plan is formed on the basis of a direct line from Lake Superior through the mineral regions to Lake Michigan. The law fortunately permitted the last two companies to make their lines at or _near_ Traverse Bay, and as Mackinaw is but comparatively a short distance, both companies have wisely concluded to terminate their lines at Mackinaw. It is at once evident that the Michigan line, centering at Mackinaw, must be met _there_, by railroads penetrating various sections of the northern peninsula. This is evident, and we understand is already foreseen, and measures will be adopted to accomplish that end. In the mean time, let us examine the prospects and influence of the two long lines of Michigan railway terminating at Mackinaw. The whole amount of land granted to the Michigan railways is estimated to be about 3,880,000 acres. From this, however, there will be some deduction in consequence of lands already selected, and which may not be supplied by the quant.i.ty within the limited distance. The deficiency will not be great, and we understand that the amount estimated for the two Mackinaw roads will scarcely be less than _two millions of acres_. Of the quant.i.ty and value of these lands, we give the estimate made by these roads, as well as the cost of construction.

The estimate made by the _Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad_ is as follows:

"The proximity to lake navigation; having several navigable rivers pa.s.sing through them, the abundance of hydraulic power, the healthfulness of the climate, the fertility of the soil; and lying immediately on the line of this road, are facts which contribute to enhance the value of these lands.

"The length of this road from the Straits of Mackinaw to Fort Wayne, will be about three hundred and fifty miles. If the company meet with as good success as the merits of the enterprise deserve, the entire cost of the road should not be over $25,000 per mile, which makes an aggregate sum of $8,759,000."

On the supposition that the minimum amount of land is obtained and sold, at half the price above stated, there will yet be broad enough basis to secure the construction of the work.

The Amboy and Lansing Company are equally confident of success. They have also located a large quant.i.ty of land, and expect their value to be equivalent to the construction of their road. Accordingly, they have put a portion of their road under contract, and have obtained large local subscriptions.

Both these lines of railroad will terminate at Mackinaw, on the north, and Cincinnati on the south; hence they will be carried south till they terminate at Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, and Pensacola, thus forming the grandest and most extensive system of railroads on the continent. Nothing in America equals it--nothing in Europe can compare with it! When all the links shall have been completed, it will stand out the greatest monument to human labor and genius which the world presents.

The single line from Mackinaw to Pensacola has been looked upon as one of the most important undertakings of the age. We extract from the "Exposition of its Plan and Prospects," by E. D. Mansfield, Esq., some of the facts, which exhibit its importance, and bearing, and influence on Mackinaw City.

"To ill.u.s.trate," says the Exposition, "the value of this North and South National Line, by its power of producing commerce, mark, in a tabular form, the natural products of each degree of lat.i.tude, thus:--

_States._ _Lat.i.tude._ _Productions._

Florida, 31 deg. Oranges.

" 31 " Sugar.

" 31 " Cotton.

Alabama, 32 " "

" 33 " "

" 34 " Cotton, Corn.

Tennessee, 35 " " "

" 36 " Cotton, corn, tobac., iron.

Kentucky, 37 " Corn, tobac., coal, iron.

" 38 " Corn, wh't, cat. tob. h'mp.

Ohio, 39 " Corn, wh't, cat. h'gs, wine.

" 40 " Wh't, c'rn, h'gs, cat., flax.

" 41 " Wheat, corn, cattle.

Michigan, 42 " Wheat, cattle, hay, wool.

" 43 " Pine, cedar, coal.

" 44 " Pine, cedar, coal.

" 45 " Pine, hemlock, cedar.

" 46 " Pine, copper, lead, fish.

"This statement is enough to show an extraordinary stimulus to commerce, on a line of railway. The length of the entire line will be less than half that which is proposed to be made from Cincinnati and other cities to San Francisco; yet, will pa.s.s through varieties of production, which that line cannot have. In two days, every inhabitant on that line may be supplied, from their native source, with sugar, cotton, corn, wheat, tobacco, iron, coal, lead, copper, pine, cedar, with wool, flour, hemp, and fruits of every description; with fish of the sea and fish of the lakes; with bread, and oil, and wine; in fine, with everything that supports, clothes, or houses man; with everything that supplies his wants, or contributes to his material happiness."

It is obvious, that such a line of railroad as this--peculiar in its resources, vast in its comprehensions, and embracing in its grasp all the products of tropic or of temperate climes--must, of itself, rear, at its _termini_, commercial towns of great importance. But, this is not all. The road from Grand Haven to Port Huron will intersect the Amboy and Lansing line about midway, and then a railroad will at once be made in the direction of the Canada lines and Buffalo--completing the _radii_ from the far northwest through Mackinaw, to the eastern Atlantic. The natural point of termini for the Northern Pacific and Canada Railroads is also at the Straits of Mackinaw. The one giving financial strength and business to the other, connecting Portland with the mouth of Columbia by the nearest possible route.

Canada has already granted four million acres of land to railroads running to Saut St. Mary. Those having the management of the Northern Pacific railroad will do well to consider the propriety of co-operating and uniting with the Canada and Pacific Railroad at the Straits.

The following from the New York Daily News is valuable in this connection. It is from the pen of E. Conkling, Esq.:--

"You will please excuse me for calling your attention, not to the importance of a Pacific railroad, for that is conceded, and our country is suffering from want of it, but to the mode of getting the means to construct the Northern Pacific railroad. I don't remember to have noticed as yet any allusion to this method, or any other practical one, and I trust you will consider the suggestions, and add thereto any other methods.

"The railroads now provided for and made to St. Paul, and Crow Wing from Chicago and Milwaukee will have exhausted local means, State aid and available land grants. However desirable it may be to sustain those roads by a business beyond that, and to the country beyond that, by extending the Northern Pacific Railroad, yet for want of means it cannot be done, unless foreign capitalists can be induced by land grants, at least to invest sufficient to make the road finally, and be made to see that their present large unproductive investments in Canada railroads can be made productive in the use of more of their capital.

"Canada railroads lie _too far North_ to receive any benefit in business from railroads terminating from the northwest as far south as Chicago, and but little from the railroads terminating at Milwaukee, as the cost of trans.h.i.+pment and delay to cross by steam ferry eight months yearly at Milwaukee with eighty-five miles ferriage, must divert the trade and travel either to the north or south end of Lake Michigan, and every year will render that delay and cost more unpopular. And yet to get that trade the Great Western Railroad of Canada have permanently invested $750,000, in the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, and recently loaned a half a million more, demonstrating the idea I shall advance, that to make good present investments more means can be had. The State of Michigan itself will furnish a good trade to roads through it and to roads east of it.

"The Straits of Mackinaw is the great natural ferry of about four miles wide for roads of Michigan and Canada to centre, the point necessarily for the pa.s.sage of lake commerce, and for a large population north of it to cross, naturally attracting and combining elements of great importance to railroads.

"Land grants are now made to the straits from the south. The Grand Trunk and Great Western Railroads of Canada can go to the Straits of Mackinaw, aided by those grants. The Ottawa and Huron Railroad to Saut St. Mary, may also go to the Straits, aided by land grants from Saut St. Mary. From there the three Canadian railroads, aided by land grants yet to be made, can go to Crow Wing or near there, and there form a junction with the Chicago roads--thence to the Pacific, aided by land grants.