Ypsilanti's First Fourth Of July

The following account has been obtained trom an eye-witness, of the number in attendance, and of the nianner in whioh the first Fourth of July ever held ia Washtenaw County was observed : Mr. A. (Jross, living two miles southeast of Ypsilanti, one of the oldest inhabitants at the present time, came here in May, 1824. At that time there wero no houses on the west side of the river, with the exception of an old tamaraek hut, built for those who chauced to pass that way in their journey to the western pait of the State. Where the depot now stands was an immense foreat. A few people had settled in this vicinity, but none where Ann Arbor now stands. There were only two routes by which travelers might reach here in safety. One was by pushing through with ox teams by a nurrow trail, the other by way of the river, which last was a journey of about seventeen days, the boat having to be poled up the river on account of the shallowness of the water in some places. Those who went to Detroit for supplies tor the neighborhood found the last named way the Iea6t dangerous and the most expeditious. Just fifty years, from the coming Fourth all the peoploin the county, both young and old, met by request of Major Woodruff in his grove, which is now the farm of Addison Fletcher, to celébrate in a suitable manner tho first Fourth of July held in this county, to which twenty-eight responded, comprising all the inhabitants of the county, excepting a few who were either too sick or infirin to stand the fatigue of tho journey. They began to arrive early in the morning of the glorious day, and as the dinner was being cooked under the direction of Mrs. Woodruff it was discovered that a most important article in the line of cooking was not to be found in the county, and thereupon a man was dispatched on horseback to Detroit to obtain a supply. He accompli shed it in less than a day, which was an exceedingly short time in those days. The dinner, which was ampie, consisted, besides the usual dishos, of a roast ox, bread and whisky. The ox was cooked in a grove in Hvö five-pail kettles, which were plaoed in such a position that tho fiame and heat from the fire were roflected upon them. The remaiuder of the refrashments were cooked by Mrs. Woodruff in the house that morning excepting those which required saleratus, being put one side until the man returned from Detroit. The dinner was excellent and was served out of doors, after which speeches wero made by several, which were to the point and in such words as all there assembled could not but understand their meaning. . That it had been a pleasant and profitable day was the universal opinión of all ' present, and each and every one went home feeling well paid for their journey ! ind trouble. '