a grand chorus of seventy-five of Monroe's fairest young ladies were seated, with orchestra and a military band. At the left of the grand stand, in front of the speakers, chairs were occupied by representatives of the press of the whole country to the number of sixty-seven; photographers innumerable recorded the inspiring scene which eclipsed any former demonstration in the state of Michigan in dignity, sentiment, and quality of its composition and the enthusiasm of its participants.

The oration of the day was by Senator W. A. Smith of Grand Rapids, and was a most eloquent, scholarly and worthy tribute to the man and the occasion which inspired it, and was paid the compliment of tremendous cheers and applause.

PRESIDENT TAFT'S ADDRESS

The address by the President of the United States, William Howard Taft, was received by the great audience with tumultuous applause and every demonstration of approval. The address was not of great length, and this fact enables me to present it entire, as worthy of preservation for its beautiful tribute to the General, especially as it emphasized his great services to the Union in the development of the boundless west. Following is the address of the President:

Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Custer, Fellow Citizens of Michigan and of the United States, Ladies and Gentlemen:-After the most appropriate and eloquent oration of your distinguished Senator in Congress from Michigan, there remains but little for me to say. He spoke on behalf of the people of Michigan and spoke most of those services which Custer rendered during the Civil war, in which the State of Michigan took rightly especial pride and look back to the memory of Custer with especial gratitude.

A typical soldier; a great cavalry commander, a man whose memory brings out of the past the names of the greatest cavalry commanders of the world; Murat, Prince Rupert and others; he stands equal with all of them. From Bull Run to Appomattox, in every bloody battle of the Army of the Potamac, he was the right arm of the commander of the forces as the leader of the cavalry corps and the cavalry brigade.

A Brigadier-General at twenty-three; a Major-General at twenty-five, he showed in his life that same worth and force that we have in most of the great military commanders of the world.

But I came here, my friends, to speak today of a phase of General, Custer's career that is not dwelt upon with as much emphasis and gratitude as I think it deserves. He stood among the heroes of the Civil war and for four years he led his cavalry in the defense of the flag to unite the Union. But, after the war, for ten years he rendered a service to his country that we do not as fully appreciate as I wish we did. He was one of that small band of twenty-five thousand men constituting the regular army of the United States, without whose service, whose exposure to danger, whose loss of life and whose hardships and trials, it would not have been possible for us to have settled the great west. (Applause). The story of that campaign of ten or fifteen years, in which that small body of men, led by the generals who had been at the head of their tens of thousands in the Civil war and who now only had under them hundreds where they had had ten of thousands before, we do not know as well as we should. The trials, the cruelty, the dangers they had to undergo in protecting the moving settler toward the west, in making the building of railroads possible, and in putting down and driving out the bloody Indians whose murders made the settlement, until they were driven out, impossible. That regular army is an army of whom the United States may well be proud, and the officers' wives, of whom Mrs. Custer is so conspicuous and charming an example, contributed their full share. (Long applause.) And I am here not to dwell upon it but only to note, as the President of the United States, the indebtedness of the country to the regular army during those ten or fifteen years in opening the west and to testify to the effectiveness and heroism of General George Armstrong Custer in that great battle continued for a decade; that great war for civili: ation. of which he was the most conspicuous and shining sacrifice. (Long continued applause.)

At the proper time, the great folds of the stars and stripes which had hitherto concealed the noble colossal statue in bronze upon its granite pedestal, were liberated by the hand of Mrs. Custer, who gracefully

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handled the yellow satin band by which this function was accomplished, and the noble figures of horse and rider flashed in the June sunlight, the military bands played Custer's favorite charging tune, "Garry Owen," finishing with the "Star Spangled Banner." This was the dramatic episode, the psychological moment of the occasion, and the thousands of voices rose in one loud and long cheer as they realized that here in Monroe, the home town that Custer loved, had at last been raised a lasting memorial to his glory as a soldier and his universal fame as a cavalry man. On the speakers' platform stood the school desk at which he and his classmate sat when attending the Stebbins Academy in boyhood.

Following is the official programme:

Invocation by Right Reverend John S. Foley, Bishop of Detroit.

Report of Monument Commission by Colonel George G. Briggs.

Remarks by the Sculptor, Mr. Edward C. Potter.

Unveiling of Statue by Mrs. Elizabeth B. Custer.

Salute of 17 guns by First Battery, Field Artillery, M. N. G.; band playing Custer's Charging Tune "Garry Owen" and "Star-Spangled Banner.''

Address by The President of the United States.

Oration by Senator William Alden Smith.

Remarks by Major General D. McM. Gregg, Commander of the Second Cavalry division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac.

Poem by Will. Carleton.

Presentation of Statue by Governor Fred M. Warner.

Response by Hon. Jacob Martin, Mayor of Monroe.

"America" by the band.

Placing of Laurel Wreaths at base of Monument by President William O. Lee,
Michigan Cavalry Brigade Association. While these wreaths were being placed,
"The Old Brigade" was sung by a chorus of 75 voices.
Benediction by Reverend Chas. O'Meara of Monroe, Michigan.

The Reunion and Camp Fire of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade preceded the ceremonies of unveiling, on the day previous, which was a notable occasion and filled the armory and opera house to its utmost capacity: The programme was a most interesting one.

Another most pleasant and satisfactory function in connection with President Taft's visit to Monroe, was a public reception tendered him at St. Mary's Academy where many hundreds availed themselves of the opportunity to pay honor to the chief magistrate of the nation, and where special exercises were arranged for the interesting occasion, a feature of which was an address of welcome by one of the young lady students, and the presentation of garlands of flowers by a class of young ladies, to the president, who was delighted by this attention and made an appropriate and feeling response.

The entire city was profusely decorated, and presented a gala appearance, national colors floating from every available point.

The parade was a military demonstration entirely under the direction of William T. McGurrin, adjutant general of Michigan, one of the most striking and interesting features of which was the large number of veterans of the old Custer brigade, most of them with white heads, and faces furrowed with the seams of years, who marched sturdily through the long line of march.

There were about four hundred survivors of the four regiments, who were most hospitably entertained by the warm hearted people of Monroe, who took them into their homes and cared for them as members of their own families. They were assigned the place of honor in the parade, and during the ceremonies at the statue.

CHAPTER XIX

COUNTY ORGANIZATION

ORIGINAL TITLES TO LANDS-ORIGINAL CREATING ACT-IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF ORGANIZATION-1805, AN EVENTFUL YEAR-PERIOD OF CIVIL UNREST -COUNTY SEAT ESTABLISHED FINANCES AND FINANCIERS-THE OLD COURT HOUSE-EARLY LEGAL AFFAIRS-MONROE COUNTY FARM AND INFIRMARY

The first steps in the settlements of the northwest were somewhat different from those which were taken in the southern country along the Mississippi river. In the former the title to lands was vested in the Indians who occupied the lands throughout the regions of the great lakes.

ORIGINAL TITLES TO LANDS

In the south, title to the whole valley of the Mississippi was vested in France by right of discovery. It is true that De Soto, a Spaniard, discovered the river, but no effort was ever made by his country to colonize the land, and Spain's rights, if any, lapsed in the 131 years between De Soto's death in 1542 and the arrival of the French in 1673. On the latter date the Mississippi was made known to the world by Marquette and Joliet.

The French title of that section of the Nouvelle France commenced on the 17th of June, 1673, when we learn from Père Marquette's quaint journal that he and his party of explorers paddled from the Wisconsin river onto the Mississippi avec une joye que je ne peux pas expliquer "with a joy that I cannot explain.

The next step in the perfection of French title was the establishment of the settlements. The first of these was when LaSalle came over the Chicago portage and set up Fort Créve Coeur ("broken heart," because of his many sore disappointments), on the Illinois river, near the present site of the city of Peoria. This station and another, St. Louis de Rocher, at Starved Rock, were presided over by LaSalle's captain DeTonty; he of the "Iron Hand.”

Cahokia, well nigh forgotten amid the swamps by all save frog hunters and crappie fishers, bears the distinction of being the first French settlement of that region that exists to the present day. It became a little French hamlet in 1699, years and years before the establishment of St. Louis, and still Cahokia is a little French hamlet. After Cahokia, came Kaskaskia, near the present Chester, Illinois, and after that, a series of river towns, also French, found their way upon the map. The French customs and the very names of these villages have long since vanished. There is no longer any "San Louie," nor any Carondelay," but their French land systems are as important today as they were in the days of the keel boat, and the coonskin cap. Very much more important, in fact, because of the immense value of these Frenchmen's farms, now that