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MICHIGAN CHAPTER 15 The Old French Habitants and their Ways
They grind their corn at present by windmills, which I do not remember to have seen in any other part of America. " His observations respecting water mills were at fault. There were several streams which afforded current sufficient to turn a water wheel. One of these was th'e Savoyord which flowed through what is now the heart of the city.
Knaggs' creek, a little further to the westward, was another. There were two water mills on Bloody Run and others on Connor's creek and elsewhere. The windmills he speaks of were quite a conspicuous feature of the landscape in their day. They were inexpensively built, wooden affairs with canvas sails to catch the wind, these sails being thrown into position by means of a long timber sweep operated by hand.
What hesays about the impassable condition of the un-paved streets will be recognized as truthful by every one who has seen such streets in the modern metropolis of Michigan. After heavy rain and at certain seasons they are literally a sea of mud of uncertain depth. The considerable mixture of clay in the soil prevents the water from sinking into the ground and the contour is not such as to accomplish natural drainage. The vehicle almost exclusively in use by the French was a two-wheeled cart. The pony which drew the cart was not very strong and it was not an uncommon spectacle at certain times to see the whole turnout stuck solidly fast in the mud, only to be pried out with a stout fence rail. The two-wheeled cart was used for all sorts of purposes. In it the farmer hauled his produce to market. In it, seated upon the boards of the bottom, rendered more comfortable by plenty of hay and buffalo robes, the family of the farmer from Grosse Pointe or Ecorces was driven to church on Sunday morning and to mass on saints' days. The cargo of the cart was discharged from the rear. If it was produce, the staple which held down the front of the box, was unbolted and the contents were dumped.
MICHIGAN
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