Press enter after choosing selection

Washtenaw

Washtenaw image
Parent Issue
Day
20
Month
February
Year
1874
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

It is evident that the invcstigations of the Pioneer Associations of our State do not as yet awaken great interest in our peoplo at large. The few who are willing to labor to olear up and establish the. interesting points of our history will need patience aa well as perseverance. Our scttlements - outside of Wayno and Monroe countios- aro scarcely fifty years old ; yet connacted with their early history there are points involved in obsourity which the present generation must clear up or they will romain unsolvnd through all coming time. A vary few months are needed to complete a haif-century since the white men, in boals, made their way up tbe Huron River and aecured a foot-hold in the unpromising opeirmgs which rose gontly to the west from the great timbered inorass which then bordered our county on the east. Many years before, the Indians, molested, if not oxpelled by the French from their favorite fisheries and hunting grounds upon Detroit River, had passed this low timbered belt and callod the land of refuge " Washtenaw." Our school children know whence Wayne and Monroe counties derived their names. What " Washtenaw" means is uncertain : after months of inquiry thus far the uncertainty increases. B'orty years ago it was stated and believed that this word meant " no white poople." It appoarod very probable that the Red men, flêeing from intruders of a different complexión, and findiug not far away an upland región, where deer wero found inherds; where the. beaver were abundant and the river and lakes full of fish, should give to that región some name expressive of their deliveranco and satisfaction, " No white people." What term could possibly be moro expressive ? At the time of the formation of this Society last year, it was stated, upou what appeared good authority, that this word nioant " Grand." That portions of the country were beautiful no early settler will forgot ; but as to grandeur it lacked every element. Thero were nobroad rivers, no elevated hills, no deep winding valleys, and almost every view was obstructod by tho timber of the openings. - The gentleman who has been engaged in preparing a history of tho county to accompany the Atlas about to be published, informed me a few days since that "Washtenaw" meant " By the River.". This surely is more improbable than tho other : the Indians had left a river which in a river, indeed ; by the side of which the Huron and Raisin and Saline are mere streamIet8. That term would apply totho place they had forsaken, not to the one they had found. In the cities of Detroit and Monroe there are men who could give information upon this question. Their as8istance is requested in behalf of our infant organization, not only, but of the Historioal Socioties of future ages. There may also be living among the remnants of the Indian tribes within our State, intelligent persons whose testiniony would be valuable. These suggestions are offered with the hope that some one at a future meeting may settle this disputed matter. We shall all agree that the character of an object is far more important than ita name So, we will, with y our consent, leave this consideration and look at the county itself. The first distinguishing charactoristic, and a vastly important one, is its geographical position. Like a few other favored portions of the eaith's surface, it has a southeastern slopo ; its streams flowing in that direction. It has thus a better exposure to the buu, and botter protection from the cold northwestern winds. In Consulting your atlases you will perceive a marked resemblance in our State to France and Spain, only a small portion of either country, and that the southeastern, being'thus distinguished andfavored. Almost all the rivers run north and east. But that it is a most inarked distinction and favor vvo may not deny. If any one has doubts, let hiin take a car at this point and in two hours he may reach the head-waters and be desGending the northern or western slopes of the Shiawassee, tho Grand Itiver, the Kalamazoo or St. Joseph. If nature in its various aspects does not thero put on a different showing. I havo not justly observed and compared. Another item not to be overlooked : We are aa near the navigablo waters as possible and still enjoy an olevated, variable soil, adapted to the culture of wheat as well as of wool and Indian coru. Moro than 10 years ago I was slowly inakiug my way to the West in the Detroit and Chicago stage. Tho November mud was deep and our progress slow. ín the township ot' Pittsfield, in this county, a gontlenian on horseback rodo by our sido, Considerable ccnversation ensued. That gentleman was Major Gilbert, whom some of you will remetuber, and a passenger inquired, " where are we r1" " Gentleinen," said the Major, " you aro in Washtenaw County, the best county in the Territory of Michigan. You are in Salino, the best town in Washtenaw County." Saline at that time comprised the four townships of Lodi, Pittsfield, York, and Saline. For the truth of the Major's statement, I will refor you to the Supervisors' accounts, as well as to actual observatiou. In thc estiniation of some, travclers and others, there is a draw-back in the absence of high, commanding clevations. - No one pretcnds that our scenery would not be moro striking had wo even a segment of a rango liko the Green Mountains ; or even a solitary Bald head. Our Swiss citizeus have feit this. Your speaker, reared in the hill country bordoring and ovorlooking the magnificont valley of the Hudson river, has feit it most intensely. Often would ho havo loft hig beil and walked 10 milos in the darkmjss, if at the surjrising he might have had a view froni the fanious, precipitóos monntain callod " BeWs Heod." Eleven miles east ot' the city of Albany it looks down upon the beautiful Uku át its foot. Onward and acrosa and down the valley of the HudsoH the eyè swefeps; county at'tcr county spread before you. The ohain of the Catskill mountains forma the western boundary of' the vast amphitheutre, every peak and indentation clearly yminted on the blue sky, - itself doubly blue. The lamed mountain hpcue, with its bright rooi reflecting the eastern suu, looks liko a pearl in its rich dai-k setting. Could we, accustoraed only to our plains and gentle and liuiited undulations, suddenly open our ejres i'rora that lofty preeipice, tbc shock would not bc safe, as the organ of the heart is said to break under the influenoe of sudden and unexpected excitement, so the mind itself might fail under the power of such a sudden and wonderful enlargement of its perceptions. (Upon this point I am not confident, and would bog to r9fer it to our brother, Dr. Webb). You Will, I trust, excuso thia seeming digression ; ospecially as it áppears to conflict with i favorable estímate of our county. Were this a región of hills and mo un tai na and narrow valleys, whero should we flnd our vvheat fields r Where tho broad meadonvB? Wik&te the heavily laden trains bearing our suplas harvests to a market'í Iet us bo thankful, even wkilo we compare our easily cultivated, fruitful coutity with the more magnificent liensselaer or Berkshire. Every year our scenery becomes more lovely ' Our rich pl.iins become more beautiful as well as the rolling country around tliem. BhalJ I speak of.Lodi'r Whero willyou findits equal 'i or Bridgewater, where aro tliere plains more delightful? Every year Washtenaw is becoming moro liko that farnous, central section of the Empire Statu around Gteneva and Canandaigua, - only our banu are said to be far more commodious, our houses botter built and better painted, and our grounds laid out with greater taste. Whoever hc-ard of a mountaineer returning to his nativo hillsides at the east after a residence of one yoar in Miohigan 'Í May I speak of our schools ? Shall 1 term it partiality or sound, good judgment in our Stato uuthorities, in placing both tho Normal and tho Universily withiu our limits ? May I mcntion the entcrprise of oue of our villages of less than 1,000 inhabitants, building a school house at a cost of $22,000! and payiug their principal teacher if 1,400 por annumr add this, too, before a railroad. had even ftuproached its boundariys. In closing, permit mo to iciuark thftt ft portion of rny address does not appear to keej) ia view the usual topics connected with Pioneer lifo. Howover, from the tacts and stateraoiits I havo presented, I draw this conclusión : That n county shovving such high cultiva tion, such univer8ally well built and commodious and beautiful buildings, in less thau 50 years fromitsfirst settlement, must havo hadsupeiior natural advantages of snil and climate, and a clasa of Pioneers far above the averago in intelligence and enterpriae; and that no othor equal portion of tho earth'8 surfaco since time commenced, ever manifested moro rapid and raarked improvoment.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus