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MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 - 5
The change of administration at Detroit came near being fatal to the colony. The new men in authority were not in sympathy with Cadillac's plans and purposes. There was great despondency over this state of affairs among those who had settled here. Many left the place and returned to Montreal, and at one time it looked as though there would be complete abandonment. But the colony managed to stem the tide of these adverse circumstances and to live through the crisis. It rallied again and in due time showed new vigor in its revival.
In 1713 Cadillac and his family were conveyed in a French frigate to Louisiana where he assumed his duties as governor. He showed his natural activity in his new field of labor, but the situation of affairs was not wholly to his liking. After four years of experience here he resigned and returned to France. He was made governor of Castell Sarrazin, where he died October 18, 1730. No portrait of the man has ever been discovered; neither have we any authentic description of his personal appearance. He unquestionably possessed great mental and physical force. He had the foresight to perceive the importance of the true policy of France in establishing a permanent and self sustaining colony in the great lake region, and he was shrewd enough to wisely choose the location of such a colony. It met the needs of his time and the great and flourishing city of Detroit, the commercial and industrial metropolis of the populous State of Michigan, has
continued to demonstrate the wisdom of his choice. He who
shared the defects of positive, aggressive natures in provoking antagonisms and so suffered much annoyance and trouble from adversaries. He was not self-seeking. In spite of temptations to which others yielded, no scandal attached to his handling of the fur trade and other financial interests in his charge. He had domestic virtues. He loved his wife and children, and he had a wife who was possessed of rare and noble traits of character. She was of the greatest assistance to him in many ways. She exemplified the crowning virtues of wife and mother to all her successors of the City of the Straits. Cadillac probably deserved a better reward than he received during his lifetime. But it often happens that founders of states must wait on posterity for just appreciation.
MICHIGAN
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