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Michigan Towns Select Towns
Here we waited for an ox team to come up, with which we were to ford the stream. We-rode through the beautiful Kalamazoo, whose tranquil waters had never, until a late period, been disturbed by aught save the light canoe of the red man. Arriving on the opposite side, we beheld an extensive plain stretching before us, diversified here and there with a grove of hickory or burr oak. To me it had much the appearance of a vast field of ripe grain, with here and there an orchard, though buildings and fences were almost entirely wanting-the only house in the vicinity of our land being that of Benjamin Wright, Esq. In the course of another day lumber was drawn from Marshall, which was then almost invariably called the-' Center,' and we had a sort of temporary habitation completed, then very common at the west, and yclept a 'shanty.' It was composed of boards and slabs, the roof slanting one way, and the other side was attached to Mr. Weight's building. I never knew the exact reason for this, but suppose it was to economize in labor as well as lumber, the outside-of his dwelling serving for the inside of ours. There was an open space-left at one end for a door, which was supplied by a buffalo robe being-drawn across it-its novelty in some degree reconciling me to its inconvenience. I had my misgivings about the safety of this door, as the- : wolves, though not venturing near enough to be seen in the day time, could yet be heard howling nightly in the distance; and one night when a large dog made his entree through, we thought one had come in right good earnest.
Michigan
Page 58
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