|
INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE SAGINAW VALLEY BY JUDGE ALBERT MILLER
MY FIRST TRIP TO LANSING
While in the legislature of 1847, in advocating the location of the State capital at Lansing, I anticipated that at an early day a direct communication would be opened between that location and the Saginaw Valley, although a large portion of the way was at that time an unbroken wilderness. Several projects had been considered; one was to use steamboat navigation from Sag inaw to the forks of Bad river (now St. Charles), and from there build: plank road to Owosso, and from Owosso to Lansing, but the plan never pre gressed any farther than to make a trial trip with the old steamboat Buena Vista from Saginaw to the forks, an account of which is given in another article. So the matter stood, when in September, 1850, I had occasion to visit Lansing. In order to get there I took passage from Portsmouth, to Saginaw on board the steamboat Wolcott, and remained at Saginaw over night in order to take the early stage the next morning for Flint, at whicl point I arrived on the evening of the second day. In order to get from Flint to Detroit in one day it was necessary to start at four o'clock in the morning There had been a long spell of dry weather, but when we started from Flint that morning the rain was pouring down in torrents. The stage we rode in was a primitive concern, the top being covered with three basswood boards running lengthwise of the vehicle, which the dry weather had shrunk, leaving large, open cracks which operated as conductors to convey all the water in side the stage that fell on top. The cracks were directly over the heads of
the passengers, and anyone can judge of the comfort of the situation.
Michigan
Page 1
|
|
Please help us keep this site online and to continue to bring sites like this one.
Thank you
|
