Table Of ContentSOME
UPPER PENINSULA
PIONEERS
from
Michigan Pioneer
and
Historical Collections
Volumes 1 - 40
REISSUED AS A
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LIBRARY COOPERATIVE
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IRON MOUNTAINJ MICHIGAN
1974
CONTENTS
11DR. DOUGLASS HOUGHTON" BY ROLLAND C. ALLEN. VoLUHE
39, 1915. PAGES 1 - 8.
·~TORY or THE DROWN ING or DR . DOUGLASS HOUGHTON AND
or
SKETCH PETER McFARLAND, THE LAST SURVIVOR Or
THE EXPEDITION-" BY GEORGE JOHNSTON. VOLUME 22,
1893. PAGES 9 - 13.
"REMINISCENCES BY GEORGE JOHNSTON, Of SAULT DE STE
MARIE, 1815.11 VOLUME 32, 1902. PACES 15 - 21.
c.
"THE HISTORIC JOHNSTON FAMI LY Of THE Soo" BY H.
CHAPMAN . VOLUME 12, 1887. PAGES 23 - 72.
"MEHORtES or THE Soo (EowARO OHSHAwAwo}" ev MRS. THOHAS
0, GILBERT. VOLUME 30, 1905, PAGES 73 - 83.
"A SKETCH of.- JoHN SENTER or HouGHTOH.11 VoLVHE 30,
1905. PACES 85 - 91,
"THE STORY or J OHN TANNER" BY MRs . ANC:tE 81HGHAM
GtLBERT. VoLUHE 38, 1912. PAGES 93 - 98.
"PETER WHITE AS MAN AND AS C1TIZEN 183()-190811 BY HoN.
LEVI l. BARBOUR. VOLUME 37, 1909-1q10. PAGES
99 - 118.
'~HE F1RST MAH or MARQUETTE; S~ETCHES or HoN. PETER
WHITE';11 VOLUME 30, 1905. PAGES 119 - 140.
DR.' DOUGLASS HOUGHTON
BY ROLLAND c. ALLEN.*
I N the year 1830 Michigaii lay on _the very frontier of settlement
in the old Northwest 'l'crritory. Detroit was little more than
an army post although it was rapidly liecoming an important
settlement through wbicl1 was passing a tide of sturdy people to
the oak openings and prairies of the southern counties. There
were less than 20,000 persons of European descent iu the entire
territory embraced within the present borders of the State. Be·
yond Detroit stretched to the north and west a 1ast and silent
wilderness, broken only here and there on the coast by isolated
groups of traders' and trappers' buts and stockades, through which
communications were maintained with the Indian's of the interior.
The coast v..· as only roughly charted, the land unsurveye<l, and little
was knoWn of the character of the vast inlands of the two penin
sulas, excepting only the southern counties which Jay in the path
of travel to the more remote and unsettled i"-egions south and west
of the end of Lake Michigan.
Such, in brief, was the state of the Territory on the arrival in
Detroit, in the winter of 1830, of Douglass Boughton, then a youth
•Rolland Craten Allen, B. A., M. A. (University or Wisconsin, 1006-1908), was
born May 24th, 1881, at Richmond, Indiana. He moved with bl~ parents to Kansas
In 1883 and thence to Wisconsin In 1891, securing his earlier education In the com·
mon schools or Kansas City nnd Richland county, Wisconsin. Having acquired a
<'ommon school education he h~t'nmc n countr~· school mnster nt the R!!P of sixteen
and arter hnvlng mastered the mnln subjects In the high 11cbool curriculum, un
tutored, he enterP.d the University ot Wisconsin nt the nge ot nineteen tor the pur
pose ot preparing himself tor thl! profession of luw. There, however, he fell unde1·
the lnduence ot Dr. Charles ntchnrd Van Hise, now president of the university
but nt thnt tlme professor ot geology, nnd under him began the study or geology ns
11 profession. After three years ot college trnlolng, during which time he supported
himself ne n pbotogrnpber, muslclnn and through otber labors or n mlscellnneous
cbnrncter't be accepted nn lnstruct.or1tl11p ln the high school of Plymouth, Wisconsin.
In the fa I or 1904, after a summer ijpcnt In geological work in the wllcla or northern
Ontario, he reentered the university, graduating wltb the class or 1005. lo his
senior year he led tor Wisconsin the annual Intercollegiate debllte with tbe Univer
sity ot Michigan and won the science meclnl tor success In sclentltlc research. Dur
ing the summer or 1905 Mr. Allen was employed ns geologist In Colorado by tbe
United States Geological Survey, accepted a position as Instructor In Ille Unl.-erslty
ot Wisconsin In the fall, resli;:ntng In March, 190.7, to engage In s:eoloi;lc work or
a coinmerclnl nature in Canada, Minnesota and Michigan. Declining tile otfer of
nn nppolntment ns mining geologist under tbe United States government In the
Pblllpplne Ialnnds he returned nt the end or 1907 to the University ot Wisconsin
tor post gradunte studies. In l!l08-1009 Mr. Allen wns Instructor In geology In the
University or Michigan, and from this position was appointed State Geologist and
Director or tbc Mlcblgs.n Geological nnd Biologlcnl Survey in August, 1909, con
tinuing. however, bis connection with tbe unl'<'erslty ns a special lecturer In geolos:y
until 1912, since which time his wbole energy hos been absorbed by his duties ns
Director o! tbe Geological Sun-cy. :.tr. All~~ Is n Fellow or the Geolo~cal Society
or America ·and a member of the Lnkc Superior :\lining Institute, Mlchlgnu Aradenw
ot Science nod Michignn Eni:;lnccrlog Socictr nnd the fraternities or Sliimo Xi
(sclentl6c), Alphn Cbl Sigma (chcmlcnl), und I,nnslni:; Loclge No. ll:l, F'. & A: M. Jn
1910· be wus united in mnrrlnge to Mnrthn Hill of ll111dlson, Indl1.1n11. ·
of twenty-one ·"·ho was destineu to acquire and sustain a dis
tinguiRhecl leaderuhip, Jh'ilt in the intellectual ond profes1:1ion~l li,fe
of Detroit, and· Jater, as State (Yeologist, in ·the development of .
the mnt~nl resources of the young State nnd. the inception of
instru~ion in~the natural seienccs in tlle Univ.ersity. The occn·
sion of his coming, .g.per the· lapi;e of thrcc·qnnrters_o f n century,
secmi; prophetic of tue profound impress he was destined to leave
on the State of hi& adopUon. He came. fo Michigan, not as an
emigrant f.-eeking n new home in the west but, through tbc influence
of .i_utclligent people in Detroit who hnu p1·ececled him, to fill n.
ueed for n leader in scientific thought in the growing Territory.
Although Detroit nt this time· was a viJlnge of dri·ly 4,000 souls it
<'Omprii;'ed an unusually 'iritelligent populntion am·ong whom w_ere
for
n. number of men distinguished not less their'intellcctual than
tor: their more mnterial nccomplishments. Amo'ng these were
Oenernl Lewis Cnss, Governor of the Territory; Stephens T. Mason,
who becitrile the first Governor of the State; Lucl~s r~yon, senator
und later Surveyot· General 01' th~ United Stntes:; J\Injor Henry
Whiting; Dr. Zina Pitcher, nn eminent physician -.n..nd a regent of
the University. . i ,,
Iµ 1830 'the friends of science in Detroit united i'n an application
to Dr. A1nos Enton; President of the Rcnnesalher Polytechnic
Im1titute bf~ Troy, New York; to recommend a per~on qualified to
llelive1· n course 01' public l_ectures on chemistry,· geology, mineral_ogy:
nud natural philosophy. The reqnest was delivered in p~rson by
I.ucins Lyon. and resulted in the ·selection of Donglnss Houghton,
who_w ne then act~ug as nu assistant to Dr. Ento~, .the. ~oremost
geologist ot the country. The immediate populariti_ attained by.
. Houghtou~e lectures in Detroit wne cred.itable not only· to the young
ecientiat .b'!lt also to his hearers, who .forsook in 0. .measure the
gniet.r ot' n.""mmtary post to engage more sedoyely 'in a study of
natural science under the leadership of n yontll who by mauy 'vas
at first deemed bette.r_f itted to receive rather than to im'parf instruc:
tion. Young Houghton, however, nt once gave evidence of re·
p1arknhle scientific attainments which, combined wit11:!bis dominat·
ing but lovable pc1·sonnlity, soon w:on all hearers. In thus early
gaining the reSpcct, ndmlration, and high regard o~ the· people
of Detroit he.hid ·_the foun.dation which in later·yeor~_; brondened
to include the people of the entire State, supported• ·hin\ in the
organizntion of the Geological Survey nnd the prodigious labor&
whicJt be discharged in the exploration of the trackless. forests
ot the north. · '
.- -----·- _.m.. i831 Houghton was admitted to· the practice of medicine and
.. ..
3
soon thereafter receivetl nn appointment from General Cass ns
ppysician and botanist fo the Henry lit. Sd1oolcrnft expedition to
uc
the sources of the Mississippi rh·cr. It mny conceived that his
experience irntlcr Schoolcrnfl not only i;crvrtl to slimulate his
nntural love for adventurous exploration, bnt alRo instructed him in
those methods o(travel and susfen:rnce in the wildemess of which he
made such effective use <luring the progress of the Geological Survey.
From 1832 to 1837 Dr. IIoughton wns cngng-ed in the profession·
of medicine in Detroit. . Bis practice was large and remunerative,
and he further added to his iucome by profitable investmeuts in
real estate. In 1837 his private fortnnc was such that he was
enabled to acce·pt the appointment of State Geologist from the
hands of his friend Stephens T. Mason, the Governor of the uewly
organi;i;ed state. It would be dcRirabk 10 pause here fo1· n time
to consider this interesting- period in the Jifo of Dr. Ilonghton, and
particularly his relation to the ci ,·ic nnd in1ellectua I nclivitics of
Detroit; but since we arc concerned in this paper more largely with
the remarkable labors of Dr. IIoughtoh, the State Geologist, suffice
it to say that by 1837 ho hnd become the leading scientist and phy·
sicinn, as well as one of the most prominent nod respected citizens
of Michigan. '
It seems clear from the records of the times tllnt nr. Boughton·
is not only responsible for tlle conception and plans of th~ first
geological survey, but it was tlle persuasive force of his personality
that induced the first Legislature to commit the people of the young
State to a work which doubtlei;s promised to many little practical
compensation in return for tlle burden of its support. This early
personal triumph. ·or. the young scientist is the more remarkable
when. it is considered that the science of geology had ns yet made
little progress in America nnd was 'not then ns it is now a. com
mon branch of instruction in schools and colleges. In fact ita
claims were received 'vith donbt .from the standpoint of the prnc·
tical bearings of its tenets, nnd ncauemicinm1 ucnicd tbe subject
that favor which todny is so freely accorded to nll of the natural
sciences: That the people of Michigan were thus early willing to
iippropriate money for a scientific survey of the State is no less
en evidence of their courageous intelligence than a tribute to the
rema~kable influence of the personality of Dr. Boughton.
lii the organization of the Snrvey Dr. Houghton found little of in·
struction or guidance in the experience of the older States. Although
the first sta.te surveys of Mas!"-0.clmsetts (1830), Tennessee (1831),
Maryland (1834), New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia (1835), Maine,
New York, Ouio, an<l Penns~·lvauia (183G), prccc1kd thoi;c in :'ilichi
~nn 11.' from one to seven yenrs lhcii- resull's we1·e ouly n1c;1gcrly
:n·ailablc and were of liltlc vnluc to Dl'. Uo11ghlon in plauning
fo1· the \'nRl- lnbors which opene<l before 11im in lite wilds of i\lichi
~nu. It is an interesting fnct, ns well ns an cvi1le11ce of Jioni;hton's
i.ccuiui;, that ns cal•ly as 1838 ('lie Survey hrnl been oq;uni7.c<l on tile
plan thal in lhe main ~sentinls is Collowccl to .this <lny in Michi:;an,
anil whic~h i8 approYe<1 liy years of cxpcricuce in other 8latC8 :lH
well. 'l'hi:-; plan provi1le<l for ~eologic.al, lopo~1·nphic:ll! wologicnl.
uncl bcil :w ica I <lcparlmc11 ts, 1•nch hea1lrtl by a compcf·cnt i::pecialist,
l111t nil 1mcler the cxcculin? hcnd of the 8111·,·c.r, the State Geologist.
The 1lcpnrtmm1t!l of bot:my 111111 ?.oology <.lid not 1;11\'\'h·c the i;ecotHl
.n•nr of their or~:111ir.a1ion, on account of 1.h~ sfraighteucd coo<li-
or
1i on lho Survr.y's finances, ll C:lllf>C which also TH"C\'Clltcd the.
pnblir.n I ion of mo~t of the conn ty mnp~ which h:Hl been prepared
l1y t11e Statn ·.ropo~rnpl1('r. Jn fact, it 8ecms 1hnt the fnn<ls whfrh
lh~ Rtrn~gling yonng Rtnle wns nlilc io tlcvote to the Survey, so
ahl~- plnnnc1l were pilifully iuadeqnatc for iL~ exccuti,m, and the
1
history of Michiga!l prcsenti:; uo nobler example than that of Dr.
llouA'hton, who8e devotion mul enthusiasm surmounted in such
llH\rked degree the <liflicultics ·thus imposc<l upon bim, :ui well ai;
ull11~rs or an equally forinidnllle nature to which we shall 110w
11 llmlc.
Tim 11111·1mii' of the sci~nr.r. of geolol!.V i11 A111e1·it•n. hn<l not
1·i~eu to the <lil!n i ty of n. pi:·ofession, and the ina t tcr of secui·ing
competent asf.!iatnnt·i:; was a source of in11ncdi:1te <'OD<:ern to the
Slate Geologist. 1t sc1·ms that there were in 1>elroit at thnt time a
1111111ll<'r of _ro1111g men of 111:11·k1·tl a bi lily. who, forl 1111a lc.ly. 1h rough
)lC\'Sonnl contact with Dr. Ilou~htou hail ac11ufred some or his anlor
:11111 cutlm:si:um\ for lhe sciences :m<l who bcca111e in I i111c. 11111lcr
l1if' tenching and inllucncc, fllted for the work of nssistnuts to the
c.
~fain 4lt~oloi;iRL or lhet5c Bela liubbartl and 0. Douglas rcn
clcl't~ll 1•1licicnt i;~rvirn fr(lm lhc l>egi11ni11:; of the Sm"\·ey to 1 he
tlc11lh ur Hr. lloughlon in 1S4r;.
To those whose lnbora hnve never lctl across tltc wilds of the
11ol'tl11.~·1·11 forests a mere recital of the dangers :uul tlifficnltics which
1nc11a1·Nl the p1·n:;1·cf:R of the survey ns well us 01c physical an<l mental
C'onslil11li1111 of ib' 11urn1IX!t'S 111u1>l fail to produce a full apprecia
tion of Ilic pro<ligious 1Jurde11 cmlJl'ace1l hy tlte you11g gcolo(.!ist an<l
hii- tlcrnt~cl m;si:;iantR. In allusion lo the nr<luow; chnr:\cter of
his lal111r.s in 1842, Houghton says, "wauin~ !he streams by <lay,
:11111oye1l by 111os1J11ito11 nt night. scpnrate<l fol· weeks together from
·ult i-odl!l'y, were it 11ot lhat the mind i.ll conat.antly occupied by
