CASS.
CASS.
c^^-e^iJ^ o-^^^l^
the wilderness. In 1«U2 Ohio was admitted to
the Union, and Lewis Cass was the tirst candi-
date admitted to the bar under the new consti-
tution. The same year he went to Zanesville,
where he practised law. In 1804 he was elected
prosecuting attorney
of the county. In 1806
he was married to
Elizabeth Spencer of
Virginia, and the same
year was elected to
the state legislature,
' ,. and appointed by Gov-
ernor Tiffin a member
of the committee to
inquire into the move-
ments of Aaron Burr.
He drafted the bill
passed by the Ohio
legislature ordering
the arrest of the ex-
pedition. He also
framed and presented to the legislature the
resolution expressing confidence in the adminis-
tration of President Jefferson, abhorrence of re-
bellion and insurrection, and attachment to the
Federal constitution, which was afterwards for-
warded to the President. In 1807 President Jef-
ferson appointed Mr. Cass U. S. marshal of the
state of Ohio, and he continued in that office for
six years. He was made colonel of the 3d Oliio
volunteers in the war of 1812, and with an army
of twelve lumdred volunteers assembled at Day-
ton, Oliio. They were divided into three regi-
ments under William Hull, governor of ^Michigan
territory', who had been commLssioned brigadier-
general. When the troops crossed the I'iver at
Detroit in July, 1812, to conquer upper Canada,
Colonel Cass was the first to land on the Cana-
dian shore, where he made the attack on the
enemy's outposts at Aux Canards. The misunder-
standing with General Hvill resulted in the sur-
render of the little army at Detroit without firing
a gun. General Hull had included Colonel Cass's
force in the capitulation, which action greatly
incensed Cass, and he hastened to Washington,
where he made his report of the affair to the gov-
ernment. He was appointed major-general of the
Ohio militia, but by reason of his parole was not
able to take the field. In January, 1813, he was
instructed by the President to recruit two regi-
ments of regular troops, and his parole being
removed he, on Feb. 20, 1813, was commissioned
colonel in the regular armj^, was subsequently
brevetted briga<lier-general, and commanded
the 27th regiment of infantry in General Harri-
son's army. He was a participant in the battle
of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813, and at the end of
the campaign commanded the troops in Michigan
with lieadquarters at Detroit. He succeeded Hull
as governor of Michigan, by appointment of Presi-
dent Madison, Oct. 29, 1813. On tue retm-n of
peace. Governor Cass devoted himself to reheving
the distress of starving French settlers, encom-ag-
ing immigration from the eastern states, negotia-
ting treaties with the Indians, codifying the laws
and opening roads. He was the first white man
to ride over the Indian trail which became the
great highway between Detroit and Chicago.
He accompanied Schoolcraft's expedition along
Lake Superior and up the Mississippi, traversing
five thousand miles, investigating the mineral
resources of the country and studying the customs
of the Indians. He wrote an account of this jour-
ne3% which was published in the North American
Revieiv. He so won the love of the Indian tribes
as to be known among them as the " Great
Father at Detroit." In 1827 he averted a general
Indian war by his promptness and personal in-
fluence, making a voyage in a canoe up the Fox,
and down the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers to
warn the troops at St. Louis. In 1831 President
Jackson appointed him secretary of war. He
suppressed the Indians in the Black Hawk war,
and when South Carolina threatened secession
he was prompt in seconding the President in his
policy of taking active measures against the
movement, ordering General Scott to hold
the forts, but to use the utmost discretion and
self-restraint. This action, followed by diplo-
matic legislation, averted civil war. He threat-
ened to resign when the President proposed the
removal of the public deposits from the United
States bank, and was dissuaded onh' by the Presi-
dent assuming personally the whole responsi-
bility. Experience had convinced him* of the
wisdom of isolating the Indian tribes, and he ad-
vocated the removal of the Creeks and Seminoles
from Florida to reservations west of the Missis-
sippi. In 1833 he accompanied the President
on his tour through the north, and afterwards
in a general report to Congress he recommended
the building of coast defences, maintaining a
strong navy, and a reasonably formidable army.
He, in the report, carefully detailed the condi-
tion and resources of the military and naval
defences of the nation. In 1836 his health failed,
and he was appointed minister to France, with
permission to leave Paris on a long trip for rest
and recreation. Diplomatic intercourse between
France and the United States had been sus-
pended for over a j'ear, on account of the failure
to settle the French spoliation claims; Mr. Cass,
however, secured the interest and a promise of
speedy payment of the principal, and he was
received with general cordiality, and soon won
the friendship of Louis Philippe. lie travelled
through France, where he studied the condition
