Smith's Canadian gazetteer - ElectricCanadian.com

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bay with deep water, well sheltered by Point Edward, capable of affording
acconiinodation to any number of vessels. 'J'here is a large island in the river,
opposite t'le upper portion of the townsliip of Moore; and opp-isite the settlement
of " Sutherlands," near the American shore, is a considerable extent of
clay banks (called here "flats"), covered with about four feet of water, where
some of the old inhabitants say they recollect the existence of an island, and that
wlieii cliildren they used to [)adilii' across in canoes in order to play upon it.
The hanks of the upper portion of the St. Clair are hijjh; those of the lower
portion are lower, and in parts inclined to be marshy. Tlic banks of the river
generally are well settled, and many of the farms are beautifully situated. The
flourishing village of Port Sarnia is situated at the head of the St. Clair, in the
township of Sarnia; and Froomefleld, Corunna and Sutherlands, in the township
of Moore. There are several wharves constructed on the Canadian side of the
river, for the convenience of supj)l}ing the steamboats passing with wood:
large quantities are sold; and, as the land near the river becomes cleared, the
commodity rises in value.
In the lower portion of the township of Sarnia is a settlement of Chippewa
Indians. These Indians are among the first whom Sir John Colborne endeavoured
to .settle and civilize. Previously to 18.30 they were wandering heathens,
scattered over the western part of the Upper Province. In 18.30 a number of
them were collected on this reserve, containing 10,280 acres. A number of
houses were built for them, and an officer was appointed for their superintendence.
Their conversion to Christianity, and their progress in religious knowledge,
and in the acquisition of sober, orderly and industrious habits, has been,
under the care of missionaries of the Wesleyan Methodist Society, both rapid
and uniform. The total number of the Indians up to tiie year 1839 does not
appear to have exceeded 3.50. Since then their number has increased greatly
by immigration, chiefly from the Saginaw Bay in the State of Michigan, and by
the settlement of wandering Indians; and in 1842, as many as 741 received
presents.
There are two other settlements under the same superintendence; one at the
River aux Sables, in the township of Bosanquet, on a reserve of 2G50 acres, and
another almost adjoining it, on a reserve of 2446 acres, at Kettle Point in the
same township, where five families reside.
These Indians also possess a fourth reserve, on the River St. Clair, within the
township of Moore, containing 2,')75 acres. Owing to the immigration which
has taken place on this portion, since the notice to the visiting Indians of the
United States was issued, and the removals which have occurred at these and
the other Indian settlements in the neighbourhood, together with the mode in
which the returns have been rendered, it is difficult to state with precision the
progress and the increase of each settlement.
.At present they are established chiefly on the front of the upper reserve,
having small farms of six and a half chains in width on the River St. Clair.
The total number of separate farms is forty-two; on sixteen of which there are
good substantial log houses, erected by the government on the first formation of
the settlement; but on the lower part of the reserve, where no houses were built
by the government, the Indians reside in small log or bark houses of their own
erection. There is only one log building resembling a barn ; but almost all the
Indians have small out-houses or sheds in which they house their crops.
From a return made in 1839. there were twenty families occupying houses,
who had 146 acres of land cleared, of which 100 were under cultivation. Their
stock then consisted of two oxen, three cows, and two pigs; and they possessed
three ploughs, two harrows, and nine sleighs. At present there are thirty-two
families settled on the reserve, who have improved 20.') acres of land: four individuals
have improved from ten to thirty acres; of the others, fifteen have
five acres or more, and the remainder under five acres cleared. There are also
five families settled on some land purchased with their annuity, and some held
by license of occupation under the govermiient, in EnniskiUen. These h&f*
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