There the only settler was a man by the name of LaRue, who had squatted and made a pre-emption claim on the 80 acre lot which was afterwards laid out as the village of Schoolcraft. He had built and lived in a little cabin which stood for some years just west of the dwelling built and occupied by Col. Daniels, and afterwards by Judge Dyckman. Smith at once decided that the land on the east side of the Island, being a central point on the prairie was the best point for locating a business establishment, and determined to start a store there. So he bargained with LaRue for his claim, and further, for the erection of a log cabin that would serve for a store, to be done by the time he could go to New York, buy goods and get them here. He paid him ten dollars, and was to pay him fifty more when he took possession. Smith and Huston then returned to Ann Arbor; Smith was to go to New York and buy a few goods, and Huston to remain a while at Ann Arbor and then come back to Prairie Ronde and take charge of the trade under the firm name of Smith & Huston. Smith started for New York, and I for Vermont. On arriving at Buffalo we again called on Thaddeus Smith, and it was agreed upon that when the goods arrived at Buffalo, he and his family should go on the vessel with them as far as Detroit, and thence across the country to Prairie Ronde, Thaddeus to be a partner in the concern. I went to Vermont and remained until October 1831, when I again started for Michigan. Arriving at Ann Arbor, there was no public conveyance farther west; and my uncle said that he wished to see the western part of the territory, and he would go out with me. With an old Indian pony and a light wagon, and a box of provisions we started, only one of us riding at a time, by way of Jackson, Marshall and Battle Creek, in each of which places there was a log cabin or two, the road being a mere trail from Ann Arbor to Bronson, now Kalamazoo, and not a bridge in the whole distance. At Bronson where we arrived just at sunset on November 5, having left Ann Arbor on the last day of October, there were four log cabins, one of which was occupied by Titus Bronson, the proprietor of the future village, where the county seat had already been located. There was also a small two story framed store, which Smith, Huston & Co. had built in the summer of that year and supplied with goods from the store at Schoolcraft, Huston taking charge of the same. Leaving my uncle at Bronson's where Huston boarded, Huston and I took horses and rode to Prairie Ronde where we arrived about 9 o'clock at night, at the log cabin which served as both store and dwelling for the Big Island branch of the business. My uncle came the next day, and on the day after left for his home. In giving this detail of my own story till my return to Michigan, I have necessarily delayed giving the fortunes of the Big Island venture. The goods sent by James Smith, arrived in due time by